YuGiOh!: Advent of Power
by ardee
Summary: When old and new enemies begin to make appearences, Yugi must face one of the most deadly organizations in the world. Over 22,000 hits...
1. Prologue

Yu-Gi-Oh: Advent of Power 

PROLOGUE

Seto Kaiba was one of the most well known people in the world. He was the second richest person alive, CEO of the world's largest gaming corporation, and the second ranked duelist on Earth. And that last detail was the thing that really cheesed Kaiba off.

Yugi Moto. That was the one name that could cause Kaiba to go mentally berserk. It was not as if he _hated _Yugi in anyway, but he truly resented his rival's superior dueling skills. When Yugi had dueled the Pharaoh, Yami, five years previously, Seto had decided that the only reason Yugi had been able to beat him was because of Yami's help, and because of the Egyptian God Cards. But then came the World Championship.

Flashback Three years previously, Los Angeles, World Championship finals Yugi Moto: LP 1500 One face up Dark Magician of Chaos (ATK 2800/ DEF 2600) Two magic/trap cards face down 

_Seto Kaiba: LP 1100_

_One face up Lord of Dragons (ATK 1200/ DEF 1100)_

_One magic trap card face down_

_Kaiba scoffed as he drew his card. "This duel is over, Yugi!" Yugi simply said, "My Dark Magician of Chaos has 2800 attack points, more than enough to finish this duel. Just make your move!" "With pleasure," Kaiba sneered._

_The crowd around them was uproarious, many placing bets on who was going to win the duel._

"_I activate the magic of Monster Reborn to bring back the Blue Eyes White Dragon (ATK 3000/ DEF 2500) that you sent to the Graveyard three turns ago." The massive pearly white dragon appeared, glaring at Yugi, attempting to strike fear in his heart. He grunted, knowing full well his mage stood no chance against the powerful dragon. Meanwhile, Kaiba's fans began to cheer as his trademark monster appeared on the field._

"_Then I activate the magic of Polymerization!" Yugi gasped, knowing full well what Kaiba was about to do. "This let's me fuse the dragon I have on the field with the two in my hand!" "Oh no!" yelled Yugi. "Meet me Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (ATK 4500/ DEF 3800)!" As Kaiba began to laugh dramatically as a huge three-headed behemoth of a Blue Eyes White Dragon appeared on the field. It roared at the Dark Magician of Chaos appeared on the field. The mage glared back, knowing full well that it stood no chance against the opposing monster. The crowd was going absolutely wild as Kaiba summoned one of his most powerful monsters. "However…" Kaiba chuckled. "Do you really think that I'm going to use this monster to defeat you?" "Oh no!" whispered Yugi. Kaiba laughed. "I hereby sacrifice my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon to summon the ultimate creature!" He held a card aloft and continued to laugh. _

_The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon began to shine. Cracks began to appear in its body and pieces of its scales began to fall off. Suddenly, there was an explosion and Kaiba slapped a card down on his Duel Disk. "Meet my Blue Eyes Shining Dragon (ATK 3000/ DEF 2500)!" A metallic, futuristic-looking dragon flew down into the stadium. It was well known that the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon was Kaiba's most powerful monster. This was proved by the fact that the hundreds of Yugi's fans let out groans of frustration. "Now my Shining Dragon's special ability activates!" The dragon began to glow. "It gains 300 attack points for every dragon in my graveyard! And since I have six dragons in my graveyard……" He smirked. The dragon's attack points shot up to 4800! "Now, destroy his Dark Magician of Chaos! Shining Neutron Blast!" The Blue Eyes Shining Dragon (ATK 4800) let out a massive blast of energy that crashed into the mage, reducing it to a pile of cinders. Gasping Yugi managed to say, "I………activate Wabuko… which reduces……… the damage I take to… zero!" He fell onto one knee. Kaiba frowned and said huffily, "All right! I end my turn. You're finished Yugi!"_

_Yugi stared at the next card on his Duel Disk. Was it possible? Could he do it? Would he be able to do this? Suddenly, he heard one of his fans yelling, "Go on, Yugi. We're all rooting for you!" Kaiba smirked. "You can have all the support in the world and you won't overcome my dragon!" Yugi stood up, and for a moment, by the look in the eyes, Kaiba thought that he was looking at the Pharaoh Atem. "No, Kaiba," he said simply. "I **will **win!" Kaiba laughed arrogantly. "Bring it on!" "All right then, I will!" Yugi drew his next card and looked at it. Gradually, a smile formed on his face. "What are you waiting for?" sneered Kaiba. "Go ahead and make your move so that I can destroy you with my dragon and win this duel!" "Fine!" shot back Yugi. "I activate the magic of Double Spell!" "No, not Double Spell!" gasped Kaiba. "Double Spell allows me to copy every magic card that you played in your last turn," said Yugi confidently, "Namely, Polymerization and Monster Reborn!" The two cards slipped out of his Duel Disk and appeared in front of Yugi. Monster Reborn glowed first. "First I activate Monster Reborn," bellowed Yugi. "And I know just the card I want! Be reborn, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (ATK 4500/DEF 3800)!" The massive dragon flew up from the ground before Yugi and let out a roar at the other more powerful dragon. Kaiba looked absolutely livid. "How dare you steal my dragon!" he roared. He slowly calmed down and then said, "It still doesn't matter. My dragon has 300 more attack points then yours! It's over!" _

"_Do you really think that I'm going to use this monster to defeat you?" smirked Yugi, copying the CEO's line. "There's no card in you deck that can stand up to my Shining Blue Eyes White Dragon!" shot back Kaiba. But then he froze. "Unless……No, you wouldn't!" Yugi simply said clearly, "I activate Polymerization to fuse the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon on the field with the Black Luster Soldier (ATK 3000/ DEF 2500) in my hand, to summon……………… the MASTER OF DRAGON SOLDIER (ATK 5000/ DEF 5000)!" Kaiba was shaking. Yugi held the Black Luster Soldier card aloft and bellowed, "Come forth!" A powerful warrior appeared, hovering over the three-headed dragon. It was dressed in green and gray armor and was clutching a massive sword. "COMBINE!" commanded Yugi. A massive vortex appeared behind them. The entire crowd gasped. Both monsters were sucked into the vortex, and there was a blinding light. Kaiba grunted and shielded his eyes._

_When the light was over, a new monster had appeared. It was similar to the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, except that the Black Luster Soldier was standing on the middle head. "Behold, the most powerful dragon in all of Duel Monsters! The Master of Dragon Soldier!" Kaiba gasped. "No… no… this can't be! My dragon is unstoppable!" "My dragon already has five thousand attack points, more than enough to destroy **your **dragon! And if that isn't enough, then I activate his special ability! Now he gains 500 attack points for every dragon on the field… including himself!" Suddenly, the Master of Dragon Soldier's attack points shot up to 6000! Kaiba glared at him and the simply said, "Finish it." "It's been a good duel Kaiba," said Yugi quietly. "The Master of Dragon Soldier! Attack his Shining Dragon now! Dragon Saber Blast!" The dragon opened all three mouths and let out three blasts of energy. The soldier raised his sword and sent a massive blast of energy. The four blasts of energy melded into one enormous blast that crashed into the Shining Dragon's chest. It roared in pain, and was finally destroyed. Yugi smiled appreciatively as the Master of Dragon Soldier disappeared. The crowd held their breath. "It's over," said Yugi simply and loudly. The crowd burst into applause. _

_Kaiba simply grimaced, turned on heel and strode off._

_End Flashback_

Kaiba banged his fist down on his desk as he remembered that duel. Yugi had used his own dragon against him. It had been the most humiliating defeat he had ever experienced. Since then, he had retired from dueling, choosing to spend his time running Kaiba Corp back in Domino instead. Currently, Yugi was in his last year in a course of Egyptology. He was on a trip to Egypt, and was due back in a month. Kaiba couldn't take it. He couldn't bear being second best! The memory of the Master of Dragon Soldier sending it's attack towards his shining dragon had been haunting him till that date. He would never forget it. Yugi Moto had defeated him yet again! He had to defeat Yugi. He _had _to. He would do anything.

Five thousand years ago, Anubis was gazing at the Pyramid of Light. The most powerful ancient Egyptian artifact to ever exist. It's power knew no limits. Neither did the power of it's owner, the God of the Dead.

Anubis was formerly a servant of the owner of the Millennium Eye, Aknadin. Aknadin was one of the guardians of the Pharaoh, and undoubtley commanded great power. Eventually, Anubis wanted this power for himself. Using the most ancient arcane sorceries, he managed to forge a power that paralleled the Millennium Items. The Pyramid of Light. Entombed in it were ninety-nine human sacrifices, giving it unspeakable power. With it, Anubis set out on a rampage. No one stood against him. He had tapped into the true power of the Pyramid of Light and destroyed the entire Egyptian army. His Shadow powers rivaled that of Zorc the Dark One himself. And now the Pharaoh and his guardians had arrived. Anubis gave a feral grin, as he flexed his large muscles. He shook his large mane of golden hair. The Egyptian desert was soon to be the battlefield of the Shadows.

In the distance, six figures were charging forward on their horses. On each one, a golden light gleamed through the mist. Anubis roared in anticipation and activated the power of the Pyramid of Light. He began to fly upwards slowly, his black cape splaying outwards. He continued to do so until he reached about one hundred feet. With that, a white blast of pure energy flew out of his item towards the riders. One of them raised a hand, and a blue shield appeared around the six of them, absorbing the blast. Anubis smirked, and landed back on the ground. The horses stopped some distance away. The Pharaoh got off his and growled at his enemy. "Anubis," he said. "This has gone far enough." "Oh, no Pharaoh," answered Anubis lazily. "In fact, this has just begun." He threw his arm back dramatically. "Let the battle begin!"

One of the guardians suddenly yelled an incantation, and his Millennium Key glowed. The Curse of Dragon appeared, a massive yellow dragon. "As you wish," said Shada confidently. Suddenly, the holder of the Millennium Ring, Mahad, bellowed his own incantation, and the Illusion Magician appeared, a small but powerful purple spellcaster. Karim, the holder of the Millennium Scale, summoned Bastet, a large, cat-like monster, with massive claws. Seto, the holder of the Millennium Rod, brought forth Duos, a gruesome fiend wielding a massive sword. Isis, holder of the Millennium Necklace, unleashed Spiria, a winged fairy. The Pharaoh himself yelled an incantation, and summoned a sleek knight on a purple horse, wielding twin lances. "Gaia the Fierce Knight!" he said confidently. "Duos," bellowed Seto. "Attack! Aura Sword!" Duos raised his sword and fired a massive yellow blast. The other guardian's also commanded their creatures to attack. Anubis simply chuckled and fired a massive white blast from his Pyramid of Light and countered the monsters. "Don't give up!" said Yami angrily. "Too late," roared Anubis. The blast from his artifact suddenly quadrupled in size, wiping out every one of the monsters except Curse of Dragon, Duos, and Gaia. The various guardians cried out in pain, as they fell to the ground. Yami looked grimly at Anubis and growled. "Very well. If that's the way you want to play it!" roared Seto. He lifted his Millennium Rod and commanded, "Mighty destroyers of darkness! Combine now!" Duos and the Curse of Dragon melded together in a massive storm of light. The resulting monster looked like a bipedal dragon with two horns sticking out of it's head. Gaia leapt onto it and readied it's lances. "Now," said the Pharaoh, "we've tripled our strength!" "Go," commanded Shada. "Duos Dragon! Attack with Dark Flare Burst!"

The dragon roared and began to charge up a blast in its mouth. Meanwhile, the knight's lances began to shine. Anubis simply laughed and said, "Andro Sphinx! Come out and help me crush these fools!" A giant armored lion appeared. It was dressed in a blue armor, with spikes on it's shoulder's and knees. It roared in defiance. "Such power," whispered Mahad. "Counterattack!" bellowed Anubis. Andro Sphinx did just that. It rushed forward and with one blow punched straight through the Dark Flare Blast. It's fist continued on until it did Duos Dragon, causing an explosion and annihilating the latter. Shada, Seto and Yami fell to the ground in pain. "Pathetic," roared Anubis in sick amusement. "You'll don't stand a chance!" Seto got up in anger. "I've had just about enough of you and your comments!" The guardians also heaved themselves upward and growled in anger. "The time has come!" said Yami, as his Millennium Puzzle began to glow. "Come out and help the forces of light end this madness!" A tall spellcaster appeared. He was dressed in purple armor. "Meet my most powerful servant! The Dark Magician!" He threw his staff outward. Shada's Key began to glow. "Wingweaver!" A tall six-winged angel appeared, glaring at Anubis. "Blue Eyes White Dragon!" called out Seto, holding up his Rod. The deadly white dragon appeared, roaring loudly. Mahad threw his hand forward and bellowed, "Archlord Zerato! Come on out and aid me to destroy this menace!" Isis, in her calm voice said, "Skull Knight! Come and cleanse the world of this evil!" A warrior wielding a deadly scimitar and wearing skulls for armor fell down out of the sky. Karim heaved his large frame forward and his Scale shone. "Seiyaryu!" he said confidently. A large metallic dragon with razor sharp claws appeared.

Yami closed his eyes and the puzzle began to shake. When he opened his eyes, they were shining with righteous anger. "Sphinx Teleia!" commanded Anubis. A large, female creature, similar to Andro Sphinx appeared, except it didn't have armor and was quadruple. Also, it's head was human with long, purple hair. "Attack!" commanded Anubis. "Go, our monsters! Destroy them!"

The Dark Magician charged up a blast and fired it towards the two sphinxes. The Blue Eyes fired a massive ball of blue lightning. Archlord Zerato slashed its sword forward, generating a beam of energy, and so on. The monsters continued to release their power until the blasts combined into one massive ball of energy, which crashed into the sphinxes, destroying them. It continued on and struck Anubis, destroying him.

There was ma large explosion. The guardians were on their knees, exhausted. "Well done, my friends," said Yami. "We were able to banish that evil once and for all!" Suddenly, the ground began to shake. The sands were shifting. It was as if ten giants were strolling across the desert. A voice called, "**_FOOLS_**!" It was as if it was coming from all directions, and yet from nowhere. "Who are you?" said the Pharaoh angrily. A laughing sound was heard. Then all of a sudden, a massive winged-jackal began to rise from the sands. It's build was as massive as Obelisk the Tormentor, with black scales. A massive horn grew out of it's head, and two huge wings extended from its shoulders. It was at least three hundred feet tall.

"**_HOW FOOLISH TO THINK YOU COULD EVER DEFEAT ME_**!" Anubis roared. Yami looked at it in astonishment. "**_NOW DIE_**!" A massive ball of black fire appeared in it's mouth. With a flick of it's neck, the blast crashed into the monsters, destroying them with ease. The last monsters to go down were the Blue Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician. They were destroyed struggling against the forces of darkness, before they crumbled too. Everyone cried out in pain. Yami collapsed onto his knees, while the other guardians lost consciousness. "**_IT'S HOPELESS! GIVE UP NOW!" _**"No," said Yami softly. "I can't let you destroy the world and all the innocent souls out there!" Anubis roared in reply, "**_I'VE HEARD ENOUGH! DIE NOW_**!" "NO," thundered the Pharaoh. "I will defeat you." His Millennium Puzzle began to glow as he started chanting in Egyptian. The black fire formed in Anubis' mouth. Yami continued to chant relentlessly.

"**_DIE, YOU FOOL_**!" Anubis fired the blast of fire at Yami. Even as it engulfed him, he continued to chant. Anubis began to laugh, when suddenly, three massive forms exploded out of the fire, destroying it.

One was a massively built, blue skinned, humanoid like creature. It had massive arms, with spikes coming out of its shoulders. Its eyes glowed red. The second was a long, red serpentine dragon. Its coils seemed to extend for miles and miles. It had two massive jaws. It roared at Anubis. The third was a bird-like golden dragon. It seemed very machine-like, and it's two giant wings fanned out behind it. A blue sapphire was embedded in its forehead. Behind them, the Pharaoh was standing upright, a grim look on his face. "Allow me too introduce the three gods of Egypt! Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and the Winged Dragon of Ra!" The three divine creatures roared at Anubis, who growled back at them. He knew this would be a difficult fight, but he was fairly confident of his power to crush them. On the other hand, even Obelisk, the weakest of the three, didn't seem the least bit intimidated by him.

"Now, to end this madness! Go now, my God monsters! Attack!" Obelisk roared even as Yami bellowed, "Fist of Fury!" Slifer screeched and began to power up a blast, as it's master commanded, "Thunder Force attack!" Ra glared at Anubis and obeyed its master, who roared, "Blaze Cannon!" At the same time, Anubis' black flame was being charged up as well. "GO NOW! END IT!" commanded Yami. They did just that. Obelisk smashed it's fists together and then fired a beam out of each. They melded together to form one gigantic blast of energy. Slifer spat a single beam from each of its mouths, while Ra released the untold power of the Sun into one huge blast of energy. The yellow, red, and blue attacks coalesced into one, giant, translucent blast of power, which shown with a thousand faucets of light and color. At the same time, Anubis countered with his evil black flames. The two attacks crashed into one another. Anubis roared in anger as the three Gods immediately gained an advantage. He attempted to push them back, but it was to no avail. The divine blast finally crashed into Anubis, engulfing him in a wild ball of energy. As bits of his body began to disintegrate, a voice was heard, "**_NO, NO, NO! THE LOST POWER!!!_**" before he was engulfed by the energy. Surprisingly, there was no explosion. There was just a very bright shining light, and then all four of them were gone. The Pharaoh collapsed, utterly spent. "What lost power," he thought, before he passed out.

Pegasus shot up from his bed, looking around frantically, his forehead poring with sweat. "What a dream!" he thought, as he calmed down. He had dreamed about Anubis being defeated by the three Egyptian God Cards. But he had learnt from the tomb keepers that Yami had destroyed him five thousand years ago. But what was that lost power that Anubis had screamed about? Shaking his head, he fell back on his pillow, falling asleep while pondering about his strange dream. Little did he know that the dream was meant to decided the fate of the entire world in some time to come.


	2. Old and New

CHAPTER TWO: OLD AND NEW

Twenty-two year old Yugi Moto looked bored as he gazed at the sarcophagus in front of him. It was supposedly a record of one of the pyramids built by the Pharaoh Rammesses the Great. Professor Hawkins had invited him to Egypt, hoping that he would he able to decipher some of the tablets and sarcophaguses that he had discovered "Hmm," he thought. "Some hope." 

He had been at it for three hours already, and it was already two o' clock in the morning. If this went on……… He leaned back on the chair and gazed up at the ceiling of his tent. Of course, he was the only one who knew why he was so withdrawn and quiet. Just being so close to _that _place…. It tore him apart. Knowing that the place where he had lost the one person who was like his best friend, brother and father all in one was so near him. He had resisted the temptation till now, but even he wasn't that strong. It was time.

He got out of his tent and gazed at the inky black sky that was peppered with stars. Throwing on a jacket, he leapt into the large desert jeep and turned it on. It rumbled and revved into life. Slamming his foot down on the accelerator, he roared away into the dark desert.

While Yugi's engine was roaring through the desert, the dueling world in Domino was roaring as well. Seto Kaiba was back in the game, and was restarting his career by dueling the most powerful tag-team duelists in the world: the Paradox brothers, who famously trounced Vivian Wong and Mai Valentine to win the Chinese Tag Team Tournament. The duel was taking place in Kaiba Corporation's famous Duel Dome. All Kaiba's fans were there to watch how he would fare against the two most powerful tag team duelists in the world. Technically, Kaiba should have started with 16,000 life points, but he insisted that he didn't need extra life points to defeat these 'bald freaks', as he put it.

Kaiba looked confidently at the two brothers across from him. That fateful night, he had made the decision to return. When he did, he would take the dueling world by storm. Upon making his announcement, he had almost immediately received a large number of challenges. Kaiba had been particularly tempted to accept the one from Joey Wheeler, but hey, he had slaughtered that mutt years ago in Battle City. The Paradox brothers were supposed to be extraordinary duelists, so Kaiba had decided there was no reason to not accept the challenge

(Kaiba: 8000, Para: 8000, Dox: 8000)

"I will go first," said Dox. Para's identical twin was dressed in green robes, and smirked at Kaiba as he drew his first five cards. "Hmm," he smirked. "You were a fool to accept this duel Kaiba! I play this! Cost Down! This allows me to reduce the stars of a monster in my hand by two!" He grinned and slotted the card into his Duel Disk. "Then I summon my Dungeon Worm (1800/1500) in attack mode!" A massive pink worm appeared. It's jaws were lined with razor sharp teeth. "I set one card face down, and end my turn! Make your move Kaiba!" Kaiba smirked. These fools wouldn't be difficult to beat. Just because he hadn't dueled in a couple of years didn't mean that there insect would frighten him. "Meet X-Head Cannon (1800/1500)!" A blue and yellow machine with a spike ball for legs then appeared on the field. It had two large twin cannons and large arms as well. "I place two cards face down, and end my turn!" Para chuckled as he examined his hand. "I play my own Cost Down! This allows me to set this one monster face down in defense mode! That ends my turn."

(Kaiba: 8000, Dox: 8000, Para: 8000)

Many fans were cheering wildly for Kaiba. Dox chuckled in his usual irritating manner and said, "My move! I summon Monster Tamer (1800/1600) in attack mode! This cards effect allows me to add 600 points to one Beast Type monster's attack points. I choose Dungeon Worm!" The slimy worm's attack points were raised to 2400. "Dungeon Worm! Attack his pathetic machine now!" The worm suddenly disappeared underground. All of a sudden, the ground beneath X-Head Cannon shook, and the worm appeared, about to strike. "I activate Negate Attack! A vortex appeared in front of Kaiba's monsters. "This card allows me to automatically end your Battle Phase! Too bad." Dox growled and said, "Very well. I end my turn."

Kaiba chuckled and said, "I summon Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600)." A red, metallic dragon appeared next to the X-Head Cannon. "Next, I activate their Union ability! This allows me to combine them to form the XY- Dragon Cannon (2200/1900)!" Suddenly, the X-Head Cannon flew upwards and landed on the machine-like dragon. A piece of metal slid back on the dragon's back and the cannon's spiked-ball landed in it. "XY- Dragon Cannon," laughed Kaiba evilly. "Destroy his pathetic Monster Tamer now!" The monster fired three blasts of energy- two from the cannon's barrels, and one from the dragon's mouth. It hit the Monster Tamer, and exploded with devastating force. Dox grimaced as his monster was destroyed. "That's all," said Kaiba carelessly.

(Kaiba: 8000, Dox: 7600, Para: 8000)

Para drew his card and snickered. "I play Graceful Charity! Now I draw three cards, but must discard two of them." He pulled three cards from his deck and examined them. "I discard these two cards. Then I sacrifice my face down Labyrinth Wall (0/3000) and my brother's Dungeon Worm, to summon the almighty Sanga of Thunder (2600/2200)!" The Dungeon Worm, along with Para's massive maze disappeared in a ball of light. A massive, golden being appeared. It didn't have any legs, and had two massive arms with spikes on its shoulders. A symbol was emblazoned on its face. "Sanga of Thunder! Attack his monster now!" The entity spread its hands out and a ball of lightning appeared between them. It launched it at the XY-Dragon Cannon, completely annihilating it. Kaiba grunted as machine was destroyed. "Hehehe," laughed Para. "I end my turn."

(Kaiba: 7600, Dox: 7600, Para: 8000)

Dox drew his next card and began to laugh. "Activate Monster Reborn! This lets me Special Summon the card that Para discarded with Graceful Charity. Meet Kazejin (2400/2200)!" There was a blowing a winds and the large green entity with yellow intricate designs on it appeared. Dox grinned. "You don't stand a chance! Kazejin! Attack his life points directly with Rage of the Storm!" Kazejin's mouth flared and suddenly he blasted a tornado at Kaiba. Kaiba was hit by it full on, but still managed to maintain his decorum by simply glaring at Dox. "My turn!" he said angrily.

(Kaiba: 5200, Dox: 7600, Para: 8000)

He drew and chuckled. "I summon my Lord of Dragons (1200/1100)!" The spellcaster appeared in it's black robes. "Next I combine it with the Flute of Summoning Dragon! This allows me to summon two dragons from my hand! Meet my Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) and Tri-Horned Dragon (2850/2350)!" The familiar metallic white dragon appeared, along with another blue dragon. This one had three horns on it's head. The two roared at the brothers. "Something's not right," thought Kaiba. "Both my dragons have more than enough power to wipe out there pathetic monsters, but they don't seem worried at all. But still, I'll have to attack if I do want to win." He threw his hand out dramatically. "Tri-Horned Dragon! Attack Kazejin now!" The blue dragon charged up a blast of energy in its mouth and fired it at the green entity. Kaiba smirked as it was engulfed in the blast. But, two his shock, a tornado exploded out of the energy and destroyed his Tri-Horned Dragon. "What the-," snarled Kaiba. The smoke cleared and Kaiba saw that Kazejin was still on the field. Dox smirked. "Kazejin's ability let's me reduce the attack points of one monster on the field to zero. Hmm, looks like you're out of practice Kaiba!"

(Kaiba: 2800, Dox: 7600, Para: 8000)

"All right. I'll end my turn." He warily eyed the Sanga of Thunder, knowing full well what he was up against. Para drew and nodded at Dox. Dox nodded back. "I activate Call of the Haunted! This lets me bring back one monster from my graveyard. I choose my Suijin (2500/2400)" The massive blue god of water appeared next to the Sanga of Thunder. Kaiba smirked and said, "Your so called entities are powerful ,but they're nothing to my Blue Eyes White Dragon!" As if for emphasis, his dragon roared. "Perhaps," said Dox nastily. "But now…" said Para. "I sacrifice all three entities to Special Summon one of the most powerful monsters in all of Duel Monsters! Meet, the GATE GUARDIAN (3750/3400)!" There was a shaking underneath the Duel Dome. The three entities transformed into balls of light and disappeared. Para held his card aloft and slapped it down on his Duel Disk.

Kaiba gasped. Right there, on Para's side of the field was a towering behemoth of a monster. It had the torso and arms of Sanga of the Thunder; it had Kazejin for its waist; and it had Suijin as its bottom half. "This," chuckled Para. "Is the Gate Guardian. One of the most powerful creatures in all of Duel Monsters. Also, the instrument of your doom! Gate Guardian! Destroy his Blue Eyes White Dragon now!" The Gate Guardian charged up a ball of lightning in it's hands, even as Kaiba watched in horror. It fired it at the powerful dragon, completely destroying it. Kaiba groaned as his trademark monster was destroyed.

(Kaiba: 2150, Dox: 7600, Para: 8000)

"My turn," said Dox. Kaiba glared at him as he drew his card. " I end my turn! It doesn't matter that I don't have any monsters to protect my life points! If you try and attack me, our Gate Guardian will annihilate it and end the game!" Kaiba shook his head as he drew. Delusional idiots. There own monster would be there undoing. "Activate Change of Heart! This lets me take control of a monster on your side of the field. Since there _is _only one monster, I guess you know what my target is." The Gate Guardian was surrounded by a gleam of light and it disappeared. Then it reappeared on Kaiba's field. "Then I combine it with Megamorph! Since my life points are lower than yours, it's attack points will be doubled!" The Gate Guardian (7500/3400) seemed to double in size, even as it's original owners watched in terror. "But first!," said Kaiba. "I activate Monster Reborn, to revive my almighty Blue Eyes White Dragon!" The metallic dragon reappeared on Kaiba's field, completely overshadowed by the massive Gate Guardian. "Now, watch as my plan to defeat you morons begins! Gate Guardian! Attack Dox's life points directly!" It gave a mechanical grunt and fired a ball of lightning at it's former master. Dox yelled in pain as he was hit by the divine attack.

(Kaiba: 2150, Dox: 100, Para: 8000)

"Next I activate my quick-play trap card, Ring of Destruction! I'll equip it to the Gate Guardian." A fiery metal ring fell out of the sky, and was attached to the Gate Guardian. "What's going on?" asked Para fearfully. Kaiba smirked. "Now, the Gate Guardian will be destroyed, and you and me will both loose life points equal to it's attack points!" "But that means you will lose! I'll still have 500 life points left, while you will be down to zero!" "Not if I activate this: Ring of Defense. This card reduces all damage that I take in this turn and reduces it to zero!" Para and his brother gasped, while Kaiba broke into his uncontrollable laughter. Kaiba's fans were cheering more wildly than ever. But this was drowned by the explosion of the Gate Guardian.

The sound was so great that even Kaiba had to duck down. When the smoke cleared, Para only had 500 life points. "And now," chuckled Kaiba evilly. "The game ends! Blue Eyes, attack Para's life points with White Lightning! Lord of Dragons, attack Dox with Dragon Master Slash!" They did just that. The Blue Eyes let loose a powerful blast of energy that hit Para and reduced his life points to zero. The lord of Dragons slashed Dox with it's considerable claws and reduced _his _life points to zero, and knocked his over. Kaiba allowed himself a slight smile. "I win." As the crowd began to cheer and the disgruntled twins walked away, Kaiba thought, "I'm coming for you, Yugi Moto. And make no mistake, the title King of Games, _will _be mine!"


	3. Look Who's Back

CHAPTER TWO: Spirit of the Pharaoh

Yugi stood outside the cave where he had dueled Yami. In that cave, not only had he proved that he was the greatest duelist of them all, but he had granted the Pharaoh his final rest: the thing he had yearned after for 5000 years.

Yugi turned his head down until his hair hid is eyes, as he recounted for the umpteenth time how he ordered that fateful attack that defeated the Pharaoh. Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl being destroyed…. The Pharaoh being attacked directly by the Silent Magician. Tears began to slide down Yugi's cheek as he recalled that final duel.

The Millennium Items had been left there to be destroyed, so that no one could use them for evil ever again. But contrary to everyone's belief, the Items were still intact. All seven of them were still lying in there, maybe a little scratched, but otherwise okay. Apparently, the rocks had only fallen on one side of the cave, leaving the Items unharmed. The eye of Anubis remained on the left wall, and the door to the spirit world remained on the right one, which also had the eye of Anubis on it. Suddenly, both eyes began to glow. They shone with blinding red light. The Items began to glow too. Suddenly, two beams of golden light poured out of the one on the door and hit two of the Items: the Ring and the Puzzle. The two Items began to glow. A shining translucent figure appeared. "Be reborn…" it called in a soft voice, and then disappeared. This was the calm before the storm. The storm was an enormous explosion. It completely decimated the cave, and the only things that survived were the Millennium Items. Yugi leapt back just in time, but was still hit by the sheer force of the explosion. He was flung backwards, and landed on his side. He wasn't injured, but still stunned. As the dust cleared, he groaned and pulled himself up, muttering to himself about explosions and what he thought of them.

He was shocked to see what was ahead of him. He was looking at the Millennium Items! "No," he told himself. "This is not possible. You're dreaming." But even as he said this, he began to walk towards the Puzzle. Even though he had seen Yami walking through the door to the Spirit World, there was still the slight glimmer of hope… He reached down and with trembling fingers grasped the Puzzle. It was just as smooth as ever. Without thinking, he put it on. It just felt so… natural. And then, it happened. Yugi suddenly began to feel great power enmating from the Puzzle. He would have felt scared, if he had the time. But it was all swept away in a flash of golden light, and standing there, in Yugi's place was… the Pharaoh Atem.

Joey stared confidently at his opponent. A tall, well-built man with long brown hair till his shoulders. He was dueling against Alex Powers, for the title of the North Pacific Regional Champion. It had been a tough tournament, where Joey had been tested to his limits, but he had finally made it. And he wasn't about to back out, even with his opponent's notorious reputation. Powers was infamous for his ruthless beatdown strategy, using a powerful deck based on FIRE monsters. He had easily crushed Rebecca Hawkins in a semi-final duel, while Joey had just been able to trounce Jacques Delacroix, an insect user.

They stood in a large stadium, surrounded by fans. Obviously, Powers was very popular, as more than eighty per cent of the crowd was shouting his name.

Joey and Powers turned on their Duel Disks, and fired out the simulators. "Let's duel!" they both shouted.

(Joey: 8000, Powers: 8000)

"I'll go first," growled Powers as he examined his hand. He smirked and said, "I summon Raging Flame Sprite (100/200), in attack mode!" A small, child-like monster appeared. It giggled and fire formed in its hand. Joey observed it. It had to have some special ability; otherwise Powers wouldn't have played it in attack position. "I'll place one card face down, and end my turn." Joey drew. "My best bet is to attack, and inflict some big damage," he thought to himself. Deciding to do that, he yelled, "I summon Alligator Sword (1500/1200), in attack mode!" An upright, armored alligator appeared. It wielded a sword and shield. "Attack!" "Idiot," muttered Powers. "I activate the magic of Block Attack!" As the alligator rushed forward, an invisible shield hit it, and forced it into a crouching stance. Joey grimaced and said, "One card face down. Dat's all for now." Powers smirked as he drew his next card. "My, my, my, Wheeler. Get ready to experience the true power of my fire deck! I summon Ultimate Baseball Kid (500/1500)!" A small kid appeared. He was dressed in a red baseball suit, and had a large baseball bat. "He gains 1000 attack points for every fire type monster on the field!" The Ultimate Baseball Kid's attack power shot up to 1500. "But first, Raging Flame Sprite! Activate your special ability!"

Suddenly, it rushed forward and chucked a fireball at Joey. He fell onto his knees, but was up in no time. But he was shocked to see his life points at 7900. "My monster can attack you directly. It also gains 1000 attack points every time it does so. Looks like you'll never make it, Wheeler!" The Raging Flame Sprite's attack shot up to 1100. "Now Ultimate Baseball Kid, attack his Pathetic Alligator Sword now!" The Ultimate Baseball Kid leapt forward and whacked the poor reptile with its formidable baseball club, destroying it. "I'll place one card face down. That's all for now. Make you move!" Joey drew and examined his hand. Baby Dragon, Polymerization, Time Wizard, Jinzo, and Skull Dice. Grinning at the first three cards, he said, "I activate Polymerization! This lets me fuse Baby Dragon (1200/700) with Time Wizard (500/400), to form Thousand Dragon (2400/2000)!" A small, orange dragon, and a strange spellcaster in a clock-like form appeared and then disappeared. In there place was an enormous brown dragon. It seemed thousands of years old, and seemed to have a bit of hair.

"Attack his Raging Flame Sprite now!" Powers laughed and said, "Fool! I activate Negate Attack! This lets me negate your attack and end your Battle Phase." A vortex appeared in front of the Sprite and sucked in the dragon's attack. Joey chuckled lightly and said, "Alright. You're done as it is!" Powers sneered as he drew and said, "I summon my Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000)!" A huge, snake-like dragon appeared. It was wreathed in flames, and roared at Joey. "Not good," he muttered. "Now my Ultimate Baseball Kid gains 1000 attack points! More than enough to put down your Thousand Dragon! Go attack his dragon!" The fiery child rushed forward and whacked the fusion with it's club, destroying it. Joey grunted as one of his most powerful monsters was destroyed, and his life points went down to 7800. "Solar Flare Dragon, Raging Flame Sprite, attack his life points directly. The two monsters shot balls of fire at Joey, brining him to his knees. He lay there gasping. Powers sneered. "That all you got? You're done! I end my turn." As he said these words, the Solar Flare dragon fired another blast at Joey, reducing his life points by a further 500. "What the…" yelled Joey in astonishment. "Solar Flare Dragon reduces you life points by 500 during each of my end phases. ," Said Powers lazily. "Make your move."

(Joey: 5700, Powers: 8000)

Joey drew grimly and his face brightened at his Pot of Greed. "I play Pot of Greed! Now I'll draw two cards." "Big deal," muttered the fire duelist, even as Joey did so. Joey grinned at his cards. Gearfried the Iron Knight and Dark Hole. Payback time. "I play the magic card, Dark Hole!" A large vortex appeared, and sucked all the monsters into it. Joey grinned, and Powers roared in anger. "'Den I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600)!" A fierce, black metallic knight appeared on the field. It's eyes were red, and it had silver lines on it's body. "Attack his life points directly!" It rushed forward and punched Powers, causing him to flinch. Joey's fans cheered at his comeback and he grinned.

(Joey: 5700, Powers: 6200)

Powers glared daggers at his opponent as he drew his next card. "I summon Great Angus (1800/600) in attack mode!" A massive red beat appeared. It had large fangs extending from it's mouth and long claws were present on it's hands. It roared at Joey, who shook his head patronizingly. "Your monster has the same attack points as my knight! If you attack, they'll both be destroyed." "Not if I activate my magic card, Shrink!" Even as he said this, Joey chuckled. "What's so funny? My card reduces your iron knights attack points by half it's attack strength, making it so match for my beast! Is losing a good monster that funny?" Joey laughed again and said, "Think again, moron! My knight isn't affected by equip cards! In fact, it destroys them! So say goodbye to your magic card!" Powers frowned and said, "Alright. But first I activate Card Destruction! This forces us both to discard our entire hand and draw a completely new hand from our decks!" Joey paled as he realized he would have to discard his Jinzo. That trusty old card had saved him in many a duel. But he then relaxed, knowing he had many more powerful monsters in his deck. He sent his cards to the graveyard, and drew. Looking at his new cards, he realized what a blessing it was that he had discarded his cards." I end my turn," said Powers huffily. Joey drew and grinned again. "Alright! First I play Fusion Revival! This lets me bring back Polymerization and one Fusion Material Monster to my hand!" The two cards popped out of his Duel Disk and he added them to his hand. "Then I'll activate Polymerization to fuse Maskai the Legendary Swordsman (1100/800) and the Flame Manipulator (900/1000) the summon the Flame Swordsman (1800/1600)!

An green armored warrior and a flaming barbarian appeared and joined together in a flash of light. The resulting warrior was dressed in blue robes, and wielded a massive flaming blade. "Then I'll play Grave Robber! This lets me take one magic card from your graveyard and use it like my own! And I'll choose Shrink!" Powers gasped as the card flew out of his Duel Disk and was caught my Joey. He slipped into his Duel Disk, and instantly Great Angus' attack points reduced to 900. "Flame Swordsman! Attack with Flaming Sword of Battle! The warrior lifted his sword up and fire swirled around it. With one slash, the Great Angus was decapitated. "Gearfried! Attack directly! Once again, the iron knight slashed it's master's opponent, bringing him to his knees.

(Joey: 5700, Powers: 3500)

Powers drew and his face darkened with glee. "I activate Monster Reborn to revive my Great Angus!" The beast reappeared. "then I'll sacrifice it to summon one of my greatest creatures! Meet Thestalos The Fire Monarch (2400/1000)!" The beast disappeared and a massive monarch appeared. It was dressed in reddish-white armor, and had fire in it's hands. Joey shrunk back, knowing that his monsters stood no chance against it. "Now I activate it's special ability! You'll be forced to discard one card from your hand, and I choose the middle one!" Joey groaned and discarded his Gilford the Lightning (2800/1400). "Now for the fun part. Thestalos, do your thing!" It fired a ball of fire at Joey, causing his knees to buckle. He gasped as his life point counter shot down to 4900. "My monarch's effect states that I can randomly discard one card from your hand. If the discarded card was a Monster Card, I can inflict damage to my opponent's Life Points equal to the Level of the monster x 100 points. Since your warrior's level was 8, you lose 800 life points!" Joey groaned. "Thestalos! Attack his Iron Knight now!" The monarch raised it's arm and flung a ball of fire at Joey's warrior. He was brought to his knees, panting as his monster was destroyed.

(Joey: 4300, Powers: 3500)

Joey drew and pointed a finger dramatically at his opponent. "You're done! I activate De-Fusion, to spilt my Flame Swordsman into the two monsters that made it up!" The powerful warrior disappeared and was replaced by the two weaker components. Powers roared with laughter. "Those pathetic creatures are nothing to my monarch." "They aren't," agreed Joey. "But I can sacrifice them to summon my best card. Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000)!" The two humans disappeared, and Joey slapped down his card onto his Duel Disk. The massive dragon appeared. It was jet-black in color, and had spikes all over it's back. It's eyes shown blood-red, and massive wings shadowed the field. Powers smirked. "Your dragon may seem impressive, but it has the same attack points as my monster. You've brought us to a stalemate." Joey grinned. "Not if I activate Metalmorph! This gives my dragon 300 more attack points, and when he attacks your monster, his points are increased by half you guy's points!" Powers gritted his teeth and glared at the dragon. "Inferno Fire Blast!" As it fired a ball of fire, the Red Eyes' attack points shot up to 3900, incinerating the monarch. Powers scowled at Joey, who said cheerfully, "That's all!"

(Joey: 4300, Powers: 2000)

Powers drew and said, "One monster face down in defense mode, and one card face down. I end my turn.' Joey drew and said, "Red Eyes, attack his monster!" The dragon fired a flaming ball at the card. Powers reacted immediately. "activate Card Guard! By discarding a card from my hand, I can protect my monster. Too bad." A card appeared in front of his defense monster, fending of the fire blast. "Oh, man,"grumbled Joey. "I'll end my turn." Powers drew and grinned. "I activate Call of the Haunted to revive my Raging Flame Sprite!" The little monster appeared. "Then I'll sacrifice both monsters to summon my ultimate beast!" The two monsters disappeared into balls of light. With a yell, he slapped the card down on his Duel Disk. "Meet: Infernal Flame Emperor (2700/1600)!!!" A huge, behemoth of a creature appeared. It looked like a winged centaur, whose entire body was made of flames. Balls of fire were present in it's hands, and it was at least 25 feet tall. Sweat poured down Joey's forehead as powers began to laugh. "Your dragon is useless against my ultimate creature! Feel his wrath! By removing a fire monster from my graveyard, I can destroy your Metalmorph!" Joey gasped as the massive creature fired a blast at his Duel Disk. His Red Eyes' points shot down to their original value. "Now," said Powers in sick glee. "Attack his dragon with Blaze of Destruction!"

The behemoth roared and rammed it's hands together at the wrists, and fired a stupendous ball of fire at the dragon. It hit it, causing it to roar in pain before it shattered to a million pieces. Joey fell to his knees, sweat pouring down his forehead. "He was my best card," he murmured. "Had enough, Wheeler? My Infernal Flame Emperor can destroy every monster in you pathetic deck!" Joey heaved himself up and growled. He had no level four or lower monsters in his hands. "I… end my turn." "Fool," muttered Powers. "Go! Attack his life points directly!" The creature shrieked and fired a fire ball at Joey, bringing him to his knees again. "I end my turn. It's over Wheeler!"

(Joey: 1300, Powers: 2000)

Joey drew and looked at his hand. Then his face brightened. He then grinned and began to laugh. "What's so funny?" demanded Powers. "Well, let's just say it's you losing! I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Gearfried the Iron Knight!" The monster reappeared. "Then I'll activate Release Restraint! Now I'll sacrifice him to summon my best warrior! Meet Gearfried the Swordmaster (2600/2200)!" The knight began to shine and it's armor began to crack. Then it exploded in an amalgam of light and energy. Powers groaned and shielded his eyes. When he looked up, a new monster had appeared. He was dressed in light clothing, and carried a massive sword. Long hair flowed down to it's waste. Powers frowned but said, "Your warrior may be powerful, but my emperor is much stronger!" "Maybe," said Joey in a level voice. "But I can combine him with Lightning Blade! This gives him 800 more attack points!" Gearfried gave a battle cry as he caught a shining sword in his other hand. It's attack power shot up to 3400. Powers was definitely scared now, but tried to hide it by growling, "That's not enough to wipe out my life-points!" "That's where you're wrong! When my Swordmaster is combined with an equip-card, he can destroy a monster on the field! Looks like it's good-bye to your Flame Emperor!" "Nooooo!" yelled Powers. "Go, Gearfried!" The warrior rushed forward and slashed the fiery creature with both it's swords. It roared in pain before it was destroyed. Now Powers was wide open. Joey grinned. "No," roared Powers. "I will not be defeated by the likes of you, Joey Wheeler!" "Gearfried, attack!" The warrior rushed forward and slashed Powers, bringing him to his knees.

(Joey: 1300, Powers: 0)

There was a silence in the crowd. Then the announcer cried, "Winner: Joey Wheeler!"

Joey rested back against the chair in his hotel room. Winning the North Pacific Regional Championship had brought $50,000 with it. He had decided that he deserved to spend at least a small amount on a little leisure. The rest would be used for his sister Serenity's university classes. He had had a small party by himself, and was flying back to Domino the next day. Just then, his phone rang. He picked it up. It was Yugi. "Hey, Yuge!" he said. "Umm. Hi Joey," said Yugi in a soft voice. "Guess what! I won the tournament!" he was about to go into a rant of his amazing duels when he noticed his friend's soft voice. "Listen, pal," he said quietly. "Is something wrong?" "Umm, no. I'll tell you when you get back to Domino."


	4. Pharoah, King and Tombkeeper

DISCLAIMER: I haven't done this before, but what the heck. ardee doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Period.

Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor and Tea Gardner stood outside Solomon Moto's Game Shop. "Man!" said Joey. "I wish Yuge would be on time! We've been waiting for like a half hour here!" Tea sighed. It had been more than two months since she had seen Yugi, and she was slightly worried about what had happened to her friend. Normally, he would always email her, but this time, he hadn't contacted any of them. Suddenly, they heard the jingling of the Game Shop's bell. Yugi had arrived.

Joey was about to greet him, when he noticed a certain something around Yugi's neck. "Hey!" he yelled. "That's the Millennium Puzzle!"

Flashback, in Yugi's mind 

"Y..Ya…Yami?" whispered Yugi. He stared at the Pharaoh, who had a stony look on his face. Yugi dropped to his knees. Yami slowly smiled. "Are you going to hug me, or what?"

_After the reunion, Yugi asked him in a trembling voice, "But how are you back, Yami? I saw you walking into the Spirit World." Yami sighed. "I don't know. When I walked in, all I remember was a blinding light, and then everything becomes unclear. The next thing I remember is waking up in the Puzzle. When I entered, I thought I would finally receive my eternal rest. Fate, however, must have had different plans for me."_

_End Flashback_

Far away, through space and time, a certain Atlantian king was strolling through his kingdom. Dartz flicked his green hair to one side. This was the true Dartz, a good man and king. He sighed as he gazed at the waterfalls. If only he had stayed true to himself, he would have been able to enjoy this beauty for a far longer time. Instead, he had wasted ten thousand years plotting to resurrect an evil that shouldn't have ever existed. The Great Leviathan. That divine creature was very powerful: and evil. Even the combined of forces of the three Legendary Knights had been unable to scratch it: let alone destroy it.

He looked around and sighed. Redemption had been hard. Luckily, his daughter Chris, and his father Ironheart had helped him. His kingdom was once again as prosperous as it had once been, and his subjects were happy. But that one problem remained: the Orichalcos stones. No matter how hard Dartz tried to destroy them, they would continue to plague his very existence. In fact, that was where he was going right now. He walked up the stone steps to the large black building where they were kept safely under lock and key. As he approached the door, the two guards bowed low. Dartz muttered, "That is not necessary, and walked into the building. The large metal doors closed behind him.

The entire building was an enormous atrium, and only a few officials, including Dartz himself, were allowed in it. A bright green light began to glow in the darkness. Dartz walked distastefully towards the glass case that held the stones. He glared at them distastefully. How much pain and suffering had these damn things caused? How many innocent lives had been ruined thanks to these objects of evil! He roared in anger and in retaliation the stones glowed even brighter. Dartz suddenly felt that his mind was being clouded up. He groaned. This happened every time he came here. The stones would try to take over his mind, but he would be able to force them out. He felt a foreign presence enter his mind. Swiftly, he sent a wave of mental power at them. He grunted as the wave was deflected. Suddenly, he began to feel the forces creeping in from all sides. His eyes widened: it had never been this strong. The power of the stones was completely overwhelming now. In one last ditch effort, Dartz gathered all his mental power and lashed out with a single wave at the oncoming forces, but it was in vain. "No! No! Get out of my head!" he screamed as one of his eyes began to flicker green. "No, I am your master!" exerted the voice. Dartz screamed in pain as the dark force delivered crushing mental blows against his consciousness. "I am your master! I am the Orichalcos!"

When Dartz looked up, both his eyes were shining green. The two guards rushed in. "Your Majesty! Are you alright? We heard screaming!" Dartz smirked in an almost playful manner. "Of I'm fine," he said in a strange voice. "Unlike you." Before they could do anything, he raised his hand and fired two blasts of green energy. The soldiers cried in pain and dropped their weapons. Dartz drew his sword and said, "Consider it an honor to be the first of the sacrifices for the Great Leviathan!" With a feral yell, he beheaded both of them. A third guard ran in, and said, "Your Majesty, why.." Before he could complete his sentence, he was engulfed in a blast of green energy. Dartz smirked, and thought, "This time I will make no mistakes. The Great Leviathan will be unleashed and no one will be able to stand in it's way! Soon, the world will be rid of all evil and I will rule over all!" With that, he broke into uncontrollable evil laughter.

Marik sat in his bedroom facing the wall. The clock on the wall showed that it was already past three a.m., but for some reason he wasn't able to sleep. Even without his Millennium Rod, the tombkeeper still had a knack for sensing trouble. How right he was. There was a knock on his door. "Come in," he said quietly. The door opened and a beautiful, dark woman appeared. "You couldn't sleep?" she enquired. He shook his head in reply. Ishizu sighed. "Neither could I. I just have this feeling that something terrible is going to unfold." Marik sighed as well. "You're not the only one. This feeling has been plaguing me for the last few months. It's just as if a voice is telling me that something terrible is going to happen." "I know what you mean," said Ishizu. Whether or not she was going to say anything, nobody knew, for suddenly there was a flash of light and something clattered to the floor. The light had blinded Marik but when he looked up he gasped. It was the Millennium Rod.

Tea gasped. She didn't know what to say. Tristan couldn't say anything. Joey, on the other hand, walked over and punched Yami across the face. "You deserved that!" he said quietly, his hair hiding his eyes. Tea found her voice. "Joey!" she said indignantly. "No," said Yami quietly. "He's right." Joey suddenly hugged him with surprising vigor. When Joey let go, he had a big grin on his face. Tristan clasped his shoulder and said, "Good to see you back, man!" He then gently hugged him. Tea was ready to break down, and she was surprised that she didn't faint when Yami hugged her.

"Well what a touching reunion!" said an arrogant voice behind them. Joey wheeled around and let yelled in a mixture of surprise and anger. "Kaiba!" Yugi wheeled around and too noticed Kaiba. "Why hello, Kaiba," said Yami not expecting an answer. Kaiba smirked and said, "It's been a while, Yugi. I se you're still hanging out with the dork squad and the mutt." Joey was about to jump on Kaiba but Tristan was just about to hold him back. "Since you've returned from Egypt, I assumed that you would have returned to dueling. That's why I'm here! I challenge you to a duel!" Yami smirked mentally to Yugi, who chuckled, "Some things never change." "So should we accept?" asked Yami. "Do you think we can beat him? The last time I dueled him was during the World Championship, three years ago. He may gotten some powerful new cards by then." There was a pause. "It's up to you Yugi," he said quietly. Yugi's friends and Seto waited in anticipation. "Okay," he said slowly. "I'll duel you." "Fine," smirked Kaiba. "Be at the Duel Dome by six this evening. Trust me Yugi, this is going to be a duel you'll never forget!" He turned heel and got into a limo that was parked by the side of the road. He got in and said curtly, "To the office." He opened his briefcase and looked at the one card that sat there. He smirked.

Yugi. You're going to regret the day you accepted this duel! All these times I've lost, they've only given me one thing: the determination to beat you! Now I will crush you with the new power of your deck and reclaim my title as the King of Games!

Yugi took out his Duel Box. It contained all the cards that he used to duel. It had had been three years since he last dueled, and he needed to keep his deck in level with the current state of the game. "Well, I think we should stick with our Dark Magician theme," said Yugi to his alter ego. "Definitely," agreed Yami, as Yugi found the various spell casters that supported this theme. Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, Dark Magician of Chaos, Sorcerer of Dark Magic, and the rest. Yugi picked up the Buster Blader card. "This will definitely be useful against Kaiba," he said, as he moved it to the side. "What about the Magnet Warriors," said Yami. "Well, they are weak by themselves, but they can be sacrificed from our hand to summon Valkyrion, which is useful in tight spots." In this way, they continued to build up their deck.

Finally, it was ready. It was a combination of efforts of Yami and Yugi and as Yugi looked at it, he felt a smile tugging on his lips. "Ready, partner?" he said. "Always," said Yami with a chuckle. There was a flash of blinding light and standing in Yugi's place was the taller, more intimidating Yami. He slotted on the Duel Disk and slipped the deck in. He grinned. They were ready.

The Duel Dome, at six o' clock 

Yami eyed the smirking CEO opposite him, while Joey, Tristan and Tea were all in the stands. True, Kaiba was always conceited and arrogant, but he had an air of confidence around him that he had never had before. "So," Seto drawled, as he activated his Duel Disk and fired off the holographic projectors. "Ready to lose your title." Yami smirked slightly. "We'll see about that." "Enough talk!" yelled Kaiba sharply as Yami fired off his projectors. They drew their first six cards and simultaneously yelled the old phrase, "Let's duel!"

ardee: Please people, I've got 168 reads and only 1 review. I don't want to sound like I'm begging but PLEASE REVIEW. I've got exams now, and within a week I'll be able to update more regularly. Till next time.


	5. Clash of the Champions

CHAPTER FOUR: Clash of the Champions

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-oh. But you probably already know that. 

**I've decided to start answering reviews. Well here they are:**

**Yami Val: Well, thanks a lot for the compliments.**

**Arion Girl: I haven't exactly blocked those who don't have accounts. Anyway, thanks for the review.**

**Now, on with the story!**

(Yami: 8000, Seto: 8000)

Kaiba eyed his hand and said, "Well Yugi, it's time you were reacquainted with my deck! I summon Kaiser Seahorse (1700/1650) in attack mode!" A large, caped sea horse-like monster appeared on the field. It let out a soft growl. "I'll place two cards face down and end my turn." Yami watched Kaiba even as he weighed his options. Finally, he made his move. "I summon my Dark Blade (1800/1500) in attack mode!" A tall, dark warrior appeared. He was shrouded by a dark cape and carried a massive sword. "Attack with Slash of Darkness!" The warrior crouched low and then leapt forward. With a single slash of it's blade, it cleaved the Kaiser Seahorse in half. Seto smirked and said, "Are you done?" Yami frowned and said. "I'll end my turn."

(Yami: 8000, Seto: 7900)

"First I draw," said Seto. "Then I'll summon my Rogue Doll (1600/1000)!" A golden woman appeared. It had a distinctive doll-like appearance, and was covered with a purple cloth. "Rogue Doll, attack!" Yugi gasped. Why would Kaiba attack his stronger monster with that weak doll? The Rogue Doll rushed forward and attempted to crash into the warrior. Instantly, it rushed forward and cleaved it in half with slash of his sword. It screamed in pain and the disappeared. "What are you playing at Kaiba?" snapped Yami. Kaiba chuckled. "You fool. You've allowed me to send both a LIGHT and DARK monster to the graveyard. Now, by removing both of them from play, I can special summon one of my most powerful beasts. A card that rivals even my Blue Eyes White Dragon! I call forth Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!" The two cards flew out of Kaiba's graveyard slot even as he slammed another onto his Duel Disk. There was a blinding light and a massive green and black dragon appeared on the field. It was at least forty feet tall, and had strange orange hair. Yami stared at it in shock. What kind of beast was this? "Chaos Emperor Dragon! Destroy his pathetic soldier! Go, Apocalypse Blast!" The dragon opened it's mouth and with a roar let out a blast of black energy, which incinerated the soldier. Yami growled at the destruction of the monster as he lost a chunk of life-points. "Make your pathetic move, Yugi," smirked Kaiba. "You don't have a chance."

(Yami: 6800, Seto: 7900)

Yami drew his next card tentatively and grinned. "I'll set one card face down in defense mode. I end my turn." Kaiba chuckled and said. "meet my almighty Vorse Raider (1900/1200)!" A ferocious brown, armored ogre-like creature appeared. It wielded a long staff with a curved blade on one side. "Attack with Bloodlust Slash!" The terrible beast howled and rushed forward, swinging it's staff and the face-down card. Yami grinned as the Vorse Raider suddenly stopped. The card flipped face-up and revealed a large book-case of books. A book hit the Vorse Raider and brought it to it's knees. "My Royal Magical Library (0/2000) can survive your attack!" Kaiba scowled. "Fine, but my dragon will crush it! Apocalypse Blast!" The dragon fired a fiery black wave, which completely burned the book-shelve to a crisp. Kaiba said haughtily, "I'll end my move." "Yami laughed and said, "You aren't the only one who can summon a Chaos monster, Kaiba!" Kaiba lost his breath for a moment. "You're summoning… _that _monster!" Yami said, "You've given me no choice! By removing my Dark Blade and Royal Magical Library from play, I can special summon my ultimate warrior! Meet Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!" Joey gasped from the stands. "I thought he sealed dat' card away, cuz' it was too powerful!" Yami grinned. He then placed his card in a slot on his Duel Disk and watched as his soldier in black shiny armor appeared beside him. Kaiba's face was a galaxy of anger as he glared at the warrior. The Chaos Emperor Dragon roared at it's opponent, who narrowed it's eyes and swung it's sword backwards. "and now," declared Yami. "The Chaos monsters will clash!"

(Yami: 6800, Seto: 7800)

"I'll activate my knight's ability to remove one monster from play, at the cost of attacking this turn! My target is your dragon!" The soldier rushed forward and was about to slash it's draconic counterpart in half. Kaiba's eyes flared and he roared, "I activate Shift! This let's me change your target to any other card on the field! I choose my Vorse Raider! The ogre like creature growled as the soldier suddenly changed course and slashed it in half. Yami frowned and said, "Fine. You've saved your dragon for one turn. It doesn't matter. Next turn your dragon is doomed." Kaiba chuckled darkly. "End your move." "Very well. I set one card face down. That's all for now." Kaiba drew and said slowly, "I combine my dragon with my magic card, Dragon's Treasure! This gives it three hundred extra attack points, allowing it to easily destroy your pathetic knight! Apocalypse Blast!" The dragon's ATK shot up to 3300, charged up another of it's blasts and fired it at the Black Luster Soldier. Yami narrowed his eyes and said, "I activate Wabuko! This protects my soldier from your attacks. Plus, I won't lose any life points!" Kaiba snarled. "Fine! I set one card face down and end my turn."

Yami drew and chuckled. "Go my knight! Remove his dragon from play with Sword of Creation!" The knight rushed forward and was about to slash the Chaos Emperor Dragon when Kaiba laughed, "I activate Interdimensional Matter Transporter! This removes my dragon from play for one turn, and transports it to another dimension! A place where it cannot be touched!" Just as the soldier was about to slash it, the dragon roared and seemed to disappear into thin air. The soldier glanced around, as if confused, and then returned to Yami's side of the field.

Joey was looking at the field in awe. "Man! Those two are so even, their monsters can't destroy each other!" Tea nodded in agreement, as Yami placed a card face down and declared the end of his turn. "But," said Tristan, "I've never seen Kaiba so confident before. I mean, if _I _had been beaten by the same guy like, five times, I wouldn't be so cocky." "Den' again man," Joey reminded him, "this is Kaiba." "Yeah," answered Tristan, still watching the field.

Kaiba drew his card and said, "Now my Chaos Emperor Dragon returns to the field!" Kaiba's side of the field glowed for a second, and in a flash of light, the dragon was back. "Next, I'll combine it with my equip card, the Malevolent Nuzzler! This gives it 700 bonus attack points!" A green female spirit seemed to drift across the field, and it was absorbed into the dragon, which roared as it's power was increased. "Now, my mighty beast! Attack with Apocalypse Blast!" Yami watched in horror, as the Chaos Emperor Dragon (3700/2500) roared and fired a blast of black fire at the mighty soldier. The blast was about to hit when Yami said, "Hold on! I activate _my _spell card! Rush Recklessly will give my almighty soldier 700 more attack points!" Kaiba gasped as the Black Luster Soldier's attack points shot up to 3700. "That means that they'll both be destroyed!" "That's exactly what it means! Go, Black Luster Soldier! Counter-attack!" The soldier glowed as his strength was reinforced. It leapt right into the blast and was invisible for a second. Then it came out and slashed the dragon hard, beheading it. It roared in pain before it disappeared. The soldier to, had been injured by the blast, and began to fade away, before it disappeared completely.

Kaiba smirked and said, "You haven't benefited either of us! Now that both are monsters have been destroyed, looks like we're both starting from scratch. I summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1500), and leave it at that." A blue machine appeared. It had two large arms, both supporting cannons. Yami drew his card and sighed. "I summon a monster in defense mode. Then I'll place once card face down and end my turn." Kaiba grinned maniacally and said, "I think you know what's coming! I summon Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600)!" A red, metallic dragon appeared and gave a mechanical roar. "Next, I'll activate their union ability! This lets me fuse them into a new beast! And I don't have to use Polymerization!" Suddenly, the X-Head Cannon flew upwards and landed on the machine-like dragon. A piece of metal slid back on the dragon's back and the cannon's spiked-ball landed in it. "Meet the XY-Dragon Cannon (2200/1900)!"

Kaiba chuckled and said, "I'm sure you remember him from our duel in Battle City. He nearly had you beat. This time, he's going to finish what he started." The XY-Dragon Cannon roared as if in agreement. "Next, I activate his special ability! By discarding a card from my hand, I'll destroy one magic or trap card on the field. I think you know my target." Even as Kaiba dismissively slid his Spear Dragon (1900/0) into his graveyard, two blasts flew out of the two cannons and the dragon's mouth, completely obliterating Yami's face down spell-card, which happened to be the nifty little trap called the Spellbinding Circle. Yami gasped even as Kaiba declared his machine's attack against Yami's face down card, which was Queen's Knight (1500/1600).

Dartz roared with evil laughter as he fired yet another green blast of energy from his hand, this time killing a battalion of fifteen soldiers. He slashed a single man across the chest, and buried his sword in another man's back. He grinned maliciously, as he thought, "_These fools have been corrupted by the evil of the outside world. I'll kill them all and then release the Great Leviathan to decimate the rest of the evil. Then, Paradise will begin._" He was outside the building that contained the Orichalcos stones. After he had not returned, soldiers had been sent to find out what happened, of course, they had met their fate….. Suddenly, he heard the sound of feet pounding on the ground. He turned around and saw a massive army marching towards him. It had at least six hundred soldiers. The commander was at the head. He cried, "You are not King Dartz, but an imposter. You must die." Dartz smirked. Fools. He would give them a taste of true power. Raising his sword, he grasped an Orichalcos stone in his hand and began to chant.

Archers began firing arrows at him, but they were deflected by an invisible barrier. Three or four battalions were marching towards him. He continued to chant. The commander was a large, hefty man, and wielded a five foot long sword. He was running faster than any other soldier, straight towards Dartz, whose sword was now glowing. The soldier was twenty feet away. Dartz's sword was glowing. The man was fifteen feet away. Ten feet away. He could have sworn that he saw some bright, shining light above Dartz. He was now five feet away, and was about to swing, when all of a sudden, a massive vortex appeared in the sky, and green snake of immeasurable size shot out and swallowed him whole. The other soldiers stopped then and there. Only a part of the snake was sticking out of the vortex, but that part was at least fifty feet long. It was dull green in color, and had evil, yellow eyes. "Meet the Divine Serpent," said Dartz coldly. "You can simply call him your doom. Attack with Blast of Divinity." The Divine Serpent opened it's mouth and slowly began to charge up a yellow energy blast. The soldiers began to scream and turned and started to run away. The beast fired the massive blast of energy at the retreating army. There was a massive influx of light, power and smoke. When it cleared, not a single soldier was alive.

Kaiba sneered as his XY-Dragon Cannon torched Yami's Queen's Knight. "Your pathetic monsters are no match for my XY-Dragon Cannon! Make your move, so that I can blow you to bits!" Yami drew his next card and sighed. "I place two cards face down and end my turn." Kaiba smirked. "I'll discard one card from my hand to destroy one of your cards!" He frowned when he realized he had destroyed Fake Trap. That was a simple trap card that could be set to confuse your opponent. "All right! Attack!" "Sorry Kaiba," Yami chuckled lightly. "I activate Magic Cylinder to send your own attack right back at you! You'll lose life points equal to your monsters attack points!" There was a flash of light and Kaiba gasped. Two cylindrical objects appeared. One of them absorbed the machine's blast. Then suddenly, another blast emerged from the second cylinder and crashed into Kaiba. He gasped and fell to his knees. With a snarl, he got up and said, "I end my turn!"

(Yami: 6800, Seto: 5600)

Yami chuckled and said, "I summon my Mystical Elf (800/2000) in defense mode. That's all." An elf with blue skin appeared on Yami's field. She was dressed is a green robe, and her eyes were closed. Kaiba drew and the angry look on his face began to edge away. In fact, he was grinning wildly. "I summon Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300)!" A yellow and blue tank appeared on the field. Yami gasped slightly. "Now I'll add Z-Metal Tank to the already powerful fusion to form my ultimate machine! Meet the XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!" The XY-Dragon Cannon took off into the air, and a slot opened in the Z-Metal Tank's back. The previous fusion landed in the slot, and there was a flash of light, revealing the new creature. "Now that my ultimate machine has arrived, I think it's safe to say that you're finished. Now I'll discard a card from my hand to destroy your pathetic elf!" Yami stepped back in shock as the dragon fired a mechanical blast, two blasts of energy erupted from the cannons and a single blast flew out from the tank. The three blasts melded together and crashed into the elf, which was completely incinerated. "Now! Attack his life points directly!" Once again, the blasts of energy charged up and crashed into Yami, nearly knocking him of his feet. He fell to his knees, gasping in pain.

(Yami: 4000, Seto: 5600)

Yami was shaking as he drew his next card. "I set one monster in defense mode. I'll also place one card face down and end my turn." Kaiba drew and sneered. "I discard another card to destroy your monster!" The XYZ-Dragon Cannon fired it's blast and obliterated Yami's face down Skilled White Magician. "Now attack his life points directly!" it charged up it's blast and fired it at Yami. This time, he was ready. "I activate Negate Attack! This will automatically end your Battle Phase and stops your attack." A vortex appeared in front of Yami and absorbed the blast. Kaiba growled. "Fine. You've saved yourself for one turn. After this, you're dead."

Yugi drew and said, "I activate Pot of Greed! This lets me draw two cards from my deck." He drew his next two cards and smiled. "You're not the only one who has powerful machines, Kaiba!" "Wh-what?" gasped Kaiba. "I hereby sacrifice Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700), Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600), and Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500/1800) from my hand, to summon my almighty Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!" He slid three cards into his graveyard. A large creature that was composed of the three magnet creatures appeared on the field with is large sword. It was yellow and pink and had two translucent wings. It stared dully at the machine opposite it, which gave a mechanical screech.

Kaiba snarled, even as Yami smirked and said, "Attack with Magna Slash!" The mighty warrior glided forward and sliced the XYZ-Dragon Cannon in half. There was an explosion and Kaiba fell to his knees. Yami grinned and said, "Now that your XYZ-Dragon Cannon is gone, I'll end my turn!"

(Yami: 4000, Seto: 4900)

Kaiba drew and a dark smile crossed his face. "Yugi, are you ready to face the monster that has been the bane of your dueling existence ever since our first duel?" Yami gasped. Kaiba laughed darkly. "I summon Kaibaman (200/700), in attack mode!" A humanoid monster appeared. It had wild orange hair, and black headgear that also covered it's eyes. Otherwise, it looked remarkably like Kaiba himself.

Joey sweat dropped. "Umm… did Kaiba just play himself?" Tea was giggling. "I don't know about this guys, but something tells me that that card isn't face value," said Tristan quietly. "Whad'ya mean?" said Joey.

Even Yami seemed a bit unconvinced. Kaiba sneered. "Just you wait. Kaibaman has powers beyond your wildest imaginations. Now I'll reveal it to you!" He slid the Kaibaman card into his graveyard. "By sacrificing Kaibaman, I can special summon a certain monster from my hand. Meet your worst nightmare! The invincible Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!" Yami gasped. "Not that!" "Yes that! Come forth, my great beast!" The Kaibaman disappeared. In it's place was a massive white dragon. It had metallic scales, and shining blue eyes. Yami's initial state of terror disappeared, and relaxing, he pointed out, "Your dragon is still weaker than my warrior. It doesn't make a difference." "Really?" said Kaiba almost playfully. Yami narrowed his eyes. _Something's not right……Kaiba would have never summoned his dragon if he knew that I would have destroyed it. _

"I activate Rush Recklessly, granting my dragon 700 extra attack points till the turn's end!" Yami gasped. "No!" "White Lightning!" yelled Kaiba as the Blue Eyes' ATK shot up to 3700. It fired a shining blast of energy from it's mouth, which crashed into Valkyrion, destroying him. Yami groaned at the loss of his powerful monster. "Now I'll end my turn. Feel free to make any threat you wish, there's no way you can win now!"

(Yami: 3800, Seto: 5600)

Yami drew and said shakily, "I summon one monster face down in defense mode, and end my turn." Kaiba smirked and said, "Pathetic." He snapped the top card off his deck, and without even looking at it, said, "White Lightning!" The dragon blew a large ball of energy that obliterated Yami's face down White Magician Pikeru. Yugi drew and finally grinned. "I summon my Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700)!" A man in a black outfit appeared. He was wielding a long staff with a black bulb at one end. Kaiba smirked. "That pathetic thing won't do you any good Yugi!" "Watch me!" said Yami, his eyes flashing. "You can't be serious.." Yami ignored him and said, "First I activate Spell Absorption! Now, every time one of us activates a spell card, I'll gain 500 life points." "That won't help you," said Kaiba, still with an air of arrogance around him. Suddenly, a light flashed above the Skilled Dark Magician. "What the.." said Kaiba in shock. "Allow me to explain. Every time one of us activates a spell card, my magician gains once counter. When it has three counters, lets just say a surprise awaits you, Kaiba!"

"Fine," shot back Kaiba. "You can't activate so many spell cards in one turn." "Oh I can! Next I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy your face down card!" A kind of black tornado launched itself towards Seto's field, and destroyed his face down Mirror Force. Kaiba snarled in anger. Another light flashed above the Skilled Dark Magician. "Then I'll play this! Card Destruction! This forces us to discard our entire hands, and draw the same number of cards." Even as he slid his hand into the graveyard, Kaiba gasped as he saw another light flashing above the Skilled Dark Magician. "Now, when my monster has three counters on hi, I can sacrifice him to summon a new monster. Meet, the Dark Magician (2500/2100)!" The Skilled Dark Magician and there was an influx of dark energy. Yami smiled grimly as the light settled to reveal the new monster. It was a human dressed in purple armor, and wielding a long, green staff. Kaiba had a horrified look on his face.

Although he would never admit it, he knew that Yugi's mage would always defeat his dragon. The two were seemingly arch rivals. Although the Blue Eyes was far superior to the mage in terms of attack points, the Dark Magician always came out on the top. Whether Yugi powered it up, or his dragon was powered down, or a trap was used: it didn't matter. His dragon was always defeated. But not this time. This time he would show the world that he was indeed superior to Yugi Moto. Especially with his new card………

Putting on a flat face, Kaiba dryly pointed out, "Your magician, powerful though he may be, pales in comparison to my Blue Eyes. You've just given me another monster to blow up." Yami smirked as he fanned out his new hand. "Not if I activate this: Magical Formula! This gives my Dark Magician 500 more attack points." Kaiba snarled even as the mage's ATK shot up to 3000. "Now our monsters are equals. Let's see you get past my magician now!" Kaiba had a look of absolute rage on his face. It was pure, cold hatred and anger. Yami was taken aback. Although he would occasionally lose his temper a bit, the suave CEO never looked so furious. This was pure hatred. Yami could tell. But after all, Kaiba was different. The fact that he had once again escaped from the jaws of defeat by powering up his magician only added fuel to the fire.

Kaiba was practically shaking with mad anger. He was only able to stop himself from ordering the holographic Blue Eyes to fly across the field attack Yami. Wait a sec, it was holographic: it couldn't kill him. Or could it? Shaking his head, he concentrated on his turn. If looks could kill, Yami would be six feet under. With a shaking hand, he snarled and drew his next card. "I summon a monster in defense mode, and end my turn." He had managed to keep the fury out of his voice. Yami drew and looked across the field apprehensively.

"Yugi, have you noticed?" he asked his counterpart through their mental link. "I'd have to be crazy not to! I've never seen Kaiba this angry! Something's wrong," answered Yugi. Steeling himself, Yami yelled across the field, "Kaiba, stop this at once! We both know there's more to this duel than meets the eye!" Kaiba couldn't keep the fury out of his voice when he roared back, "SHIT UP!" Yami was taken aback by his sudden outburst. So were Tea, Tristan and Joey. The Blue Eyes roared as if for emphasis. "Do you know what it's like being me?! NO YOU DON'T!! Do you have any idea what it's like being this close from the top, and continuously losing to the same person again and again? NO YOU DON'T!!" Kaiba's breath was coming in shallow breaths now. "Every time we dueled I would lose!"

_The three Blue Eyes White Dragons were bearing down on Yami. "Draw your last pathetic card so I can end this Yugi!" sneered Kaiba. "My deck has no pathetic cards Kaiba," shot back Yami. "It does have this: the unstoppable Exodia!" Kaiba gasped. He slapped five cards down onto the dueling platform. "I've assembled all five special cards: all five pieces of the Puzzle!" Five points appeared in the air, and golden lines connected each of them to form a golden star. A massive golden monster stepped out of the vortex. Its arms were chained. But that didn't stop it from doing its jab. "Exodia, obliterate!!!" Exodia fired a massive blast of energy from its hand, blowing away all three dragons…………………………_

_Kaiba had a look of terror on his face as the mass of Kuriboh's swarmed around him and his decaying Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. "There's no way your Ultimate Dragon can help you now Kaiba," Yami shouted as the dragon's attack points dropped further down to 900. "Now I summon my Celtic Guardian (1400/1200)!" An elven swordsman appeared, clad in green armor and wielding a powerful blade. "Attack his dragon now!" The swordsmen leapt forward and upwards, and sliced off one of the dragon's three heads, the creatures roar of pain blocking out Kaiba's howl of rage…………………_

"_Nest I'll activate Diffusion Wave Motion. By paying 1000 life points, my Dark Paladin can attack all of your monsters!" yelled Yami as his life points dropped to 500. "NOOO!" yelled Kaiba as the Dark Paladin raised its scimitar and a ball of energy formed on it. It fired the blast at Kaiba's three Blue Eyes White Dragons, destroying them……………_

_The Blue Eyes Shining Dragon exploding in front of Anubis, and destroying him………_

_Yami ordering the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl to destroy the Winged Dragon of Ra when he was dueling Marik………………_

_The Creator of Light blasting Zorc to dust in ancient Egypt……………_

_The three Egyptian gods successfully destroying the Great Leviathan by combining their powers……………_

It was all too much. He had been looking down, his hair covering his eyes. Now, when he looked up, he looked oddly calm. "End turn," he said in an unnatural voice. Although a bit put off by Kaiba's enraged demonstration, he was by no means perturbed. His eyes were flashing in silent anger. He drew and said, "Fine! Dark Magic Attack! Destroy his face down monster!" The Dark Magician formed a ball of energy on its staff and fired it at the facedown monster. It turned out to be a Blade Knight, which was completely obliterated. "Kaiba, this isn't you!" said Yami. "Snap out of it and then we can have a good duel! This isn't the powerful rival I've been facing all these years!"

That was it. Kaiba had had enough. He drew his card. "Power?" he roared. "I"LL SHOW YOU MY POWER!" He slammed a card into the magic/trap card zone and slid the Blue Eyes White Dragon as well as two more cards from his hand into the graveyard. "_I activate Polymerization to fuse my three Blue Eyes White Dragons together to form my ultimate creature!** Meet my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon **_(4500/3800)!!!"

The silhouettes of two more Blue Eyes White Dragons appeared next to the one that was on the field. The three roared and disappeared into a vortex. It was then that the ground began to shake. "What the…" began Yami, but he was cut off by a massive roar. He looked up, horrified.

Looming above him was a gigantic dragon. It looked like the Blue Eyes White Dragon, except it had three heads and was much larger. "NEUTRON BLAST ATTACK!" Kaiba roared. The dragon roared and Yami was nearly blown of his feet by the sheer force of its roar. Three blue balls of energy were taking shape in each of the dragon's mouths. Finally, it released all three blasts in a huge wave of energy that crashed into the Dark Magician, blowing it to dust. Yami fell to his knees, while Kaiba let out a chilling laugh.

(Yami: 2300, Seto: 5600)

Yami was breathing heavily. That last blast had nearly knocked him unconscious. He gritted his teeth as he drew. He had decided that this wasn't Kaiba. It couldn't be. Kaiba never put on such displays of emotion. Although he was a brutal duelist, he was normally cold and didn't seem to care that his opponents were being hurt. But right now…. Kaiba was actually trying to hurt him. He drew his next card and sighed. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." The hologram of the card appeared in front of him.

Kaiba drew and grinned maniacally. "I combine my Ultimate Dragon with my powerful equip card: Fairy Meteor Crush! It gives him the powerful ability to deal damage to you even when your monster is in defense mode! Neutron Blast Attack!"

Joey, Tea and Tristan watched in horror as the dragon's attack spiraled towards Yugi's face down monster. Unless the monster had more than 2200 defense points, Yugi was done. Tea crossed her fingers, whispering a silent prayer as the blast was about to hit. Suddenly, Yami chuckled lightly and to everyone's surprise a massive wall of fur balls appeared directly ahead of Yami. They were brown and had yellow eyes. Tea let out a sigh of relief. "Kuriboh," she muttered.

Kaiba looked as if he was going to run across the field and strangle Yami right then and there. "By discarding Kuriboh from my hand, I could negate all damage that you did to me this turn," said Yami matter-of-factedly. However, the blast still destroyed all the Kuriboh and obliterated Yugi's face down Celtic Guardian. "End turn," growled Kaiba.

Yami drew. Giant Soldier of Stone……. Not good. He glanced at his hand and almost sighed aloud when he noticed Dust Tornado. "I activate Dust Tornado to destroy your Fair Meteor Crush!" A whirling tornado flew through the air and destroyed the hologram of Kaiba's equip card. Kaiba growled as he slid it into his graveyard, but said nothing. "Next I summon a monster in defense mode and end my turn!"

Scarcely had Kaiba drawn before he shouted, "Neutron Blast Attack!" The massive dragon fired another blast at Yami's monster, destroying the Giant Soldier of Stone

(1300/2000). Yami was hardly able to stand now. So many monsters had been destroyed by the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon's devastating attacks. Heavily, he drew a card, and his face brightened.

"What's so funny?" snapped Kaiba. Yami shook his head. "You'll never learn, will you Kaiba? Your dueling is fueled by anger: by hatred! If you keep dueling when your heart is surrounded by darkness, _you'll never win!!!!_" Yami took a deep breath. "Now I'll prove it! I activate Monster Reborn to revive my Dark Magician!" The purple robed mage reappeared on the field. "So what!" scoffed Kaiba, his eyes still blazing. "Your magician can't take on my dragon!" "Not if I activate this: Thousand Knives!" Six knives immediately appeared in the Dark Magician's hands, and he skillfully threw them towards Kaiba's Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. The remaining nine hundred ninety-four appeared from the air around the Dark Magician and quickly followed the ones he had thrown. The dragon was absolutely skewered. "What the hell is going on?" roared Kaiba. Once again, the fury in his eyes was clear. "I can only activate this card when I face-up Dark Magician on my side of the field. I can destroy one monster on your side of the field. My target was your dragon! Now by spellcaster! Go! Dark Magic Attack!"

The mage formed a ball of energy on it's staff and launched it at Kaiba. It crashed into him, bringing him to his knees. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

(Yami: 2300, Seto: 3100)

Now Kaiba's fury knew no bounds. Although he no longer voiced it, Yami could see it in his eyes, cold, calculating and furious. "Draw." As he looked at the card, he chuckled. "I'll just set this monster in defense mode and end my turn. Your move." Yami drew, but continued to look at Kaiba. "Dark Magician, attack his facedown monster now!" The powerful mage fired a blast at the card. Kaiba's eyes widened in sick glee, as the monster revealed itself before it was completely consumed by the blast. It was a four-armed, blue humanoid, and had a golden and orange robe. "Magical merchant (200/700)," said Kaiba coldly. "When it's destroyed, I send cards from my deck to my graveyard until I draw a magic or trap card. With that he began to snap cards of his deck and flick them into his graveyard. He sent a total of five cards to the graveyard, before he stopped and added a card to his hand. Yami narrowed his eyes and said, "That's all for now."

Kaiba drew. "Yugi," he drawled. "Do you remember our duel in the World Championships?" "What are you talking about?" growled Yami, narrowing his eyes. "Oh no," whispered Yugi through their mental link. "What do you mean?" asked Yami. "He's gonna summon _that_ card." Yami's face hardened, as he immediately understood what Yugi meant. "First I activate Monster Reborn to revive my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Yami grunted as the massive beast rose up. If Kaiba used it to attack his magician, he would be down to 300 life points. "But, that's just for starters!" said Kaiba coldly. "What are you talking about?!" roared Yami, even though he knew perfectly well what was coming.

Kaiba laughed. "Fine! I'll let you see for yourself! I hereby sacrifice my mighty Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon to summon a new monster!" Yami gasped. "I summon the **_Blue Eyes Shining Dragon _**(3000/2500)!!!" said Kaiba, his voice dripping with venom.

Joey gasped. "Not dat'!" Tea was also shocked. Kaiba had only summoned it once or twice in the past and it was nearly invincible! She was dimly aware of Tristan swearing loudly.

The Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's skin began to crack, breaking apart into pieces. There

was a blinding explosion as the Ultimate Dragon burst into pieces, and a massive light emanated from Seto's side of the field. On Seto's side of the field was a massive dragon – or rather, it appeared to be a robotic version of a dragon, for it certainly looked futuristic in appearance. In fact, it looked a lot like the original Blue Eyes White Dragon, except that it had a kind of three-pronged crown on its head. "You now face my strongest monster," Kaiba chuckled. "Not only the strongest dragon, but the strongest beast in all of Duel Monsters!" The dragon roared at Yami as if for emphasis. "I'm sure you are well aware of its ability."

Yami could do nothing except look on in horror. "It gains 300 attack points for every dragon in my graveyard. So now its time to do some math," he sneered. "Three Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500), Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800) and Chaos Emperor Dragon (3000/2500). Let's not forget the five dragons that were sent to the graveyard thanks to Magical Merchant's effect! Rare Metal Dragon (2400/1200), two Troop Dragons (700/800), Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400), and Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200)! That's a grand total of ten dragons in my graveyard, times 300, for a bonus of 3000 attack points! Add that to my dragon's attack, and let's just say this is one sticky situation you aren't getting yourself out off!" The Blue Eyes Shining Dragon (6000/2500), as it glowed, signifying it's increase in power. "Now go, attack with.." Yami, who bellowed, cut off "Hold on Kaiba! I activate Threatening Roar! This powerful trap card prevents you from declaring an attack this turn." Kaiba roared in anger, as the blast forming in the dragon's mouth disappeared.

Yami was about to draw, but hesitated. "Can I do this?" he thought. A cheerful voice in his mind said, "Sure you can!" It was Yugi. "Don't worry Yami. As long as we have our friends behind us, and we trust in the Heart of the Cards, there's no way that we will lose!" Yami heard Tea cheering, "Don't worry Yami! We're all there behind you!" "Kick butt, Yuge!" yelled Joey. "Win it, man!" added Tristan. Yami closed his eyes. _Heart of_

_the cards, guide me………_ He drew his card and glanced at it. He grinned. "It's time to finish this Kaiba!"

Kaiba snarled and said, "Bring it on!" "As you wish! I activate Call of the Haunted to revive my Dark Magician!" The mage once again appeared, this time surrounded by a patch of gravestones around it. "Okay, now I'm _really _getting tired of seeing that magician," growled Kaiba. Yugi ignored him. "Next I'll play Polymerization to fuse my magician with the Buster Blader (2600/2300) in my hand, to form my ultimate monster! Meet Dark Paladin: the Ultimate Magical Swordsman (2900/2400)!" He sent his Dark Magician from the field to the graveyard and the Buster Blader from his hand. Slowly emerging on the field was a new monster: a mage dressed in robes similar to the Dark Magician's, but the robes were dark blue with gold trim. In his hand he carried a sort of scimitar.

"I'm sure you remember this monster," smirked Yami. Kaiba had fallen to his knees. "He gains 500 attack points for every dragon on the field and both graveyards! There's ten dragons in your graveyard, which means my powerful warrior gains 5000 attack points! There's also another 500 thanks to the presence of your Shining Dragon, for a grand total of **_8400 _**attack points for my Dark Paladin!" The Dark Paladin raised his scimitar and beams of energy began to fly from Seto's graveyard and hit the blade. It's attack points began to skyrocket. A beam from the Shining Dragon's chest also hit the Dark Paladin's scimitar, increasing his power even more. The attack points continued to increase until they finally hit 8400. "Now, Dark Paladin attack with Blade of the Dragon Slayer!!!"

The magical warrior raised its scimitar and slashed it downwards, creating a mighty sonic wave that ripped through the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon. It roared in pain until it was sliced in half.

(Yami: 2300, Seto: 700)

Kaiba was on his knees, his face drenched in sweat. His Shining Dragon had been defeated: again! Yami was about to walk forward, but Yugi said warningly, "Don't. He was furious at first. Now that his dragon has been defeated, he's even more dangerous." Suddenly, the angry look in Kaiba's eyes disappeared. In fact, his eyes looked glazed over now. His face was devoid of all emotion. "I draw," his voice had no emotion whatsoever. "I activate my trap card, Call of the Haunted. I'll use it to revive my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon." The three-headed behemoth appeared behind him and roared.

"Next I will activate De-Fusion, to send my Ultimate Dragon to my Fusion Deck to special summon the three component Blue Eyes White Dragons from my graveyard."

Yami couldn't understand. What was going on? Why would he send his more powerful monster back to his Fusion Deck. In fact, the only advantage was that his Dark Paladin lost 500 attack points, putting it at 7900. "Next," said Kaiba, a small grin forming on his face, "I sacrifice my three dragons to summon my Egyptian God card!"

"**_EGYPTIAN GOD CARD?!?!" _**yelled Joey, Yami, Tea and Joey and the same time.

Kaiba ignored them. The three dragons disappeared one by one. Kaiba raised his hand and was about to say something, when a voice yelled, "STOP!!!!!!" Everyone wheeled around to see a dark man of medium height at the entrance to the Duel Dome. In his hand was a golden key. The Millennium Key. It was Shadi. He raised the Key in both hands and aimed it at Kaiba. Suddenly a blast of golden energy left it and crashed into Kaiba, knocking him off his feet. In fact, he was unconscious.

But suddenly, a portal opened in the air. At first, it was simply a tiny hole, but began to grow in size, until it had a diameter of about forty feet. Shadi gasped and fired a second blast, this time right into the portal. "Pharaoh, attack!" he yelled. Although he had no idea what was going on, Yami decided it would be best to obey. He concentrated his power and fired a large blast of energy from his Puzzle right at the portal. The combined energies of Yami and Shadi were enough to just about close the portal. Before it did close, Yami thought he heard a roar. The beams of energy ceased. Shadi walked up to him. "Now that that's over," said Yami. "Could you tell me what on earth is going on here?"

­­­­­­­­­­­­­**Phew. I know that was a cliffhanger, but hey, the chapter was over sixty-seven hundred words long! I'll be able to update soon enough, but I'll leave it to you guys to puzzle it out till then. Until next time!**

**P.S. Don't forget to leave review!**


	6. What's Going On?

CHAPTER FIVE: What's Going On?

**Disclaimer: Whoopee… I topped this year at school!!! And I don't own Yu-Gi-oh. **

"What's going on?" Yami repeated. "I believe I could help answer that question, Yugi-boy!" Yami didn't even have to turn around to know who it was, but he did so anyway. "Pegasus" he growled. "Yeah, what are you doin' here?" said Joey as he, Tea, and Tristan followed them down too. "Once again, Pharaoh, please excuse me for my umm… necessary use of violence," said Shadi. Yami nodded and said, "For the third time, can you'll tell me what's going on???" Pegasus shook his head. "It's not safe here. I've got a helicopter waiting outside. We'll go to my island. I'll explain it to you'll over there." "Fine," said Yami. Suddenly, he began to feel faint. He leaned against one of the walls for support: he was exhausted. "That duel probably tired you out," said Yugi. "Let me take over for now." "Sure," said Yami quietly, and in a flash of light Yami was replaced by Yugi. "But what were you doing here?" he asked Shadi. "My Millennium Key sensed a large amount of dark energy coming from this area. I knew that you and the Pharaoh were here too. I realized I should come too."

"But how is da' Key back too?" asked Joey. Pegasus sighed and shook his head. "I'll explain when we get to my island. I would advise you and you're friends to accompany us too, Joey-boy. It isn't exactly safe here, as I said before." Yugi had a determined look in his eyes. "Okay, I'll come." Tea looked apprehensive but agreed. Tristan mooched over to join Yugi. Joey sighed, and realized he would have to agree. Just as they were about to leave, Shadi said, "We can't leave Kaiba here like this." "Well I'm not carrying him," yelled Joey. Shadi sighed and lifted his Millennium Key and once again pointed it at Kaiba. It glowed and Kaiba's unconscious body began to float in the air. Shadi turned around and kept walking, while Kaiba's body followed him. "Freaky," Joey muttered.

They were now in the helicopter, above a lake, halfway to Pegasus' island. The helicopter was pretty big, and the number of seats was just enough for all of them to sit down: except for Kaiba. When Yugi had asked about that, Pegasus had grinned and motioned to Shadi. Shadi had shaken his Millennium Key and dropped Kaiba on the floor between the two seats. "Kaiba-boy needs a taste of the real world," he had chuckled, with a touch of relish. Yugi had pestered Pegasus with questions, but he had refused to answer. Shadi had stayed silent throughout the entire ride. Finally, they had arrived.

The helicopter settled down and Pegasus' butler, Croquet, and a few other men were waiting with a flight of movable stairs. "Welcome back, sir," said Croquet. Pegasus nodded as he walked down the stairs. Yugi, Joey, Tea and Tristan followed. Last of all came Shadi, levitating Seto Kaiba. Croquet enjoyed his high pay too much to question this phenomenon. Pegasus turned to Croquet and said, "Make sure no one arrives on this island. Post a large number of guards around the castle. No one must enter." "Yes sir," said Croquet and at once took out a walkie-talkie from his pocket and began to speak into it.

The group followed Pegasus into the castle. Pegasus repeated his instructions to the guards that they passed. Finally, they entered his private chambers. The room was huge, and contained large models of various Duel Monsters. There was an entire section devoted to the Dark Magician set, the Blue Eyes White Dragon set, and of course Pegasus' beloved Toons. In the middle was a large table, with an array of chairs. Once again, Pegasus asked Shadi to drop Kaiba right on the ground. They then seated themselves. Yugi took a deep breath, and said, "All right, this has gone on for more than enough time. What's going on? Was Kaiba really going to summon an Egyptian God Card? Why did Shadi have to blast that vortex? Why…" He was cut off by Pegasus who said in his usual singsong voice, "Tut-tut! Young people these days: no manners! Anyway, before we start, how about a few refreshments?" Joey shouted, "Enough of da' stalking Pegasus! Tell us what's going on!" "Yeah, Pegasus, cut to the chase!" said Tea.

Pegasus sighed and looked at Shadi, who nodded at him. "Very well." Everyone looked intently at him. "I want you'll to think back nearly six years ago. I'm sure it's a time you'll never forget." Yugi nodded. "Battle City." Pegasus nodded. "Very good. Now who do you know from Battle City was psychotic, depraved and absolutely evil?"

They all could only gasp one word. "Marik!" Pegasus nodded. "Ten points to all of you! You'll certainly know your crazy, dark spirits." "But we defeated Marik's dark side! His good side wasn't evil!" said Yugi. "But did you'll destroy him?" asked Pegasus, as if cross-examining him. "We did! Marik surrendered the duel, and that means his dark side was sent to the Shadow Realm." Pegasus chuckled. "Therein lies your error, Yugi-boy. When you defeated him, he was sent to the Shadow Realm. The Shadow Realm, powerful as it is, could never contain an entity like Marik!" "Wait a sec'!" said Tea, joining in the argument. "He wasn't that powerful! He was simply all of Marik's hatred rolled into one being. The only reason he was so powerful was because he had the Millennium Rod!" "And da' Winged Dragon of Ra!" added Joey.

"Do you really think so?" Shadi spoke up for the first time. "What?" said Yugi, surprised. All eyes were on him. "Alright. I'll explain this as simply as I can. Up until now, you'll were under the impression that Marik's dark side was simply Marik's hatred and all his darkness in one being. But it is all far worse than that." Yugi gulped. He didn't know what was coming, but he knew it couldn't be good. "What was it?" demanded Tristan. Shadi took a deep breath and said, "The dark side, or rather alter ego of Marik Ishtar is an ancient Egyptian spirit, just like the Pharaoh and the thief Bakura."

"**_WHAT_**???" yelled Tea, Joey, Tristan and Yugi at the same time. Pegasus nodded in agreement with Shadi's statement. "Yugi, let me speak to him," said Yami. There was a flash of light and Yami was back. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Wait a second. If he was so powerful, me, being the Pharaoh, would have known about him. Even if what you say is true, the vessel for his soul would have to be his Millennium Item, the Rod. That is not possible, as 5000 years ago, the Rod belonged to the Sacred Guardian, Seto. Unless Marik's dark side is some kind of depraved, evil version of Seto, your statement can't be true. By the way, I highly doubt that, as Seto was my cousin and a close friend of mine. No amount of dark magic could change him so drastically."

Shadi glanced at Pegasus again. "Very well. I will explain everything to you. I warn you, it is a long story, and I must ask you not to interrupt." Joey nodded, and Tea, Tristan and Yami all agreed.

"First I might have to tell you a bit about Marik's past. He was born in the small village of Kul Elna, just like the thief Bakura. When the massacre to create the Millennium Items had been performed, he had managed to escape. His sheer hatred drove him on through the desert, until he reached the capital of Egypt. He was just about a little older than you at that time. He lived near the palace. In fact, he witnessed the final years of your father's reign. However, he was constantly plotting revenge. He got his chance when the Priest Secmenton, the previous owner of the Millennium Rod, met him."

Pegasus took up the story. "He had incredible potential when it came to Shadow Magic, and was able to take control of Secmenton's mind temporarily. He used the power of the Rod as well as his own and Secmenton's to create one of the most powerful magical artifacts ever." "Which was that?" asked Tea. "The Pyramid of Light," said Shadi quietly. Before they could exclaim loudly again, Pegasus held up a hand, and continued, "Marik waited. He knew he wasn't powerful enough to even scratch your father. Suddenly, your father passed on, and you took the throne. Unfortunately, Marik's want for revenge was so great, that he decided to extract his revenge against you. He used his powers to take control of one of the Guardian Aknadin's servants, Anubis. He then gave him the Pyramid of Light."

"This is all starting to make sense," muttered Yami. "Snapping together, like the peaces of a puzzle," chuckled Pegasus, dryly. Shadi continued, "Anubis also wielded great power. His Ka, or soul monsters, were incredibly powerful, and although it was a touch battle, you managed to defeat him, Pharaoh. You had been hard-pressed to do so. But along with the three Egyptian gods, you managed to do so. But the battle didn't end there. Marik was still remaining. And on in the year 3,103 B.C., you confronted him. It was a long and hard battle. For you see, Marik wielded the power of the three Dark Egyptian Gods." Joey's jaw dropped. "Three Dark Egyptian Gods…." "Yes. Three entities of dark energy that rivaled even the true Egyptian Gods." "True?" said Yami, raising an eyebrow. "Yes. The thing is, Anubis' power was so great, that it rivaled all three Egyptian God Cards, as well as the Pharaoh and Marik's power. Marik's mental will, however, was more powerful. He was able to take control of Anubis, but only temporarily. Therefore, when he sent him to fight you, he forced him to be purposely defeated. In doing so, he split Anubis into three powerful entities: Giglamesh the Chaos Warrior, Ragnarok Dragon, and Anubis, Destroyer of Gods. The last one was the most powerful, as Marik infused a large amount of his own energy into it, and it's full power rivaled even the Winged Dragon of Ra." Everyone's mouths were hanging open.

Pegasus continued, "But the gods of light and darkness were evenly matched. In fact, they destroyed each other. But the battle continued. In the end, you were able to win.

Normally, losing such a battle would have outright killed him. But he did the unthinkable." "What do you mean?" growled Yami. "Before he fought you," said Shadi quietly, "he had battled Seto. Although his Blue Eyes White Dragons were powerful, they stood no chance against Marik's dark Gods. He knocked Seto unconscious, and then made his decision." "Stop doing that!" yelled Joey. "Just tell us what he did!" "Very well," said Pegasus. "He sealed a part of his soul in the Millennium Rod. A Horcrux if you will. Those Harry Potter books are _so _charming." Everyone gasped. "What kind of evil is he?" snarled Yami. "The very worst. And now his powers have reawakened the Millennium Rod. This triggered a chain reaction, bringing back all the items. Any spirits inhabiting the Items returned too."

"That means Bakura is out there too," said Yami grimly, remembering the mad thief's desire to revive Zorc. "But that's the least of our worries. Zorc is nothing compared to the Dark God Cards. It wouldn't matter if Bakura were able to revive him: Marik could easily crush him. Right now, we should concentrate on defeating Marik as fast as we can," said Shadi.

"So the card that Kaiba was about to play..." said Tea. "Was Marik's god card," finished Pegasus. Marik must have controlled Kaiba and forced him to use the God Card. I don't know which one it was: it faded away when it was about to be played. It's lucky Shadi here intervened. You wouldn't have stood a chance, Yugi-boy." Everyone was silent. Shadi broke the silence. "Tell him." "Very well," said Pegasus. "As I've explained, even Kaiba-boy's Blue Eyes Shining Dragon pales in comparison to the Dark Gods. Therefore, in order to defeat Marik, you must wield the only three cards that stand any chance against him: the true Egyptian God Cards."

"But those were destroyed when I lost to Yugi," said Yami quietly. "They were. That's why I have manufactured three new copies of the Gods. Here they are." He slipped his hand into his pocket and handed Yami three cards, who took them gracefully. Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and the Winged Dragon of Ra… "Use them wisely," advised Shadi. "I will." He pulled out his deck and put them in, one by one. He couldn't help enjoying the sense of power, knowing he wielded three invincible creatures in his deck.

They were all silent for a few minutes. Suddenly, Joey broke the silence. "Hey!" Everyone looked at him. "How did Marik get copies of da' new God Cards?? Dey' would have to be authentic for Marik to be able to dem'!" All eyes swerved to Pegasus. Expect for Shadi. As if in answer, Shadi and Pegasus both fell forward. That was it. Joey ran up to Shadi and looked at him. "Dey' are definitely out," he said grimly. "And come to think of it, how did they know so much," said Tea suddenly.

"_How indeed_," said a chilling voice at the door. Everyone whirled around. Standing there was a man about five foot ten, with wily, gray, spiked-up hair. He was dressed in a black T-shirt, with khaki pants, and a purple coat. His eyes had a slightly demented look to them. Only one person in the world looked like that. "Marik," growled Yami.

**Well, it was a bit short, I know, at about twenty-four hundred words. But hey, two chapters in two days isn't bad at all. By the way, credit to Anubis, Destroyer of Gods goes to the amazing author, Wolf General. It's similar to his invention, Fenrir, Destroyer of Gods. If you haven't read his stories, I highly recommend them. By the way, while you are reading this, look to the bottom left of the screen. The purple button…. It's calling to you… Press it…. And you will be rewarded… (Alright you probably won't). **


	7. Looks Who's Back

CHAPTER SIX: Look Whose Back

**Well, enjoy the chapter.**

**Here's a review that requires answering:**

**Half Yokai Katana: Why thank you.**

"I'm glad you remember me Pharaoh," chuckled Marik darkly. His Millennium Rod was flashing. "Those two fools: so easy to manipulate: I didn't even have to challenge them to a Shadow Game!" "So you used your Millennium Rod, didn't you?" spat Yami. "Very perceptive," Marik replied idly.

Yami sensed that Joey was about to make a move and growled softly, "Let me handle him. Get out of here now." Joey shot back, "No way I'm letting you deal with this guy alone!" Yami's eyes narrowed but he continued looking at Marik. "Get out of here," he said in a tone just as dark as Marik's. Even Joey was silenced by his new coldness. "Al right," he mumbled, shot a glare at Marik and picked up Pegasus. Tristan threw Shadi over one shoulder, and grudgingly lifted Kaiba. "Good luck, Yuge," said Joey. He seemed to realize the gravity of the situation. "Kick his butt," added Tristan. There was a small fire escape in the corner of the room. Joey, Tristan and Tea moved slowly towards the exit.

Marik didn't even seem to notice them. He was simply, staring at Yami, a hungry look in his eyes.

Yami was dimly aware of Tea saying, "Please be safe Yugi," quietly, before she left. Yami was glaring at Marik, who was simply idly staring at him. "Well, well, well," he chuckled. "It certainly has been long, hasn't it, _Atem_?" Yami growled at the use of his real name and snarled, "Cut the rubbish, Marik! We both know you came here for a Shadow Game, and if it's a Shadow Game you want, it's a Shadow Game you'll get!"

Marik raised his eyebrows at Yami's crude behavior, and frowned. He decided to cut to the chase and said coldly, "Very well. It seems that your little friends were too afraid to stay and watch the fun, and so they decided to stay away for now. But no matter. I'll find them and kill them all later." He chuckled in a morbid fashion, and raised his Millennium Rod. Before Yami could answer, a bolt of golden energy lanced through the air, towards Yami. Unfazed, he erected a golden shield around him, using his Puzzle. The bolt crashed into it and dissipated.

"Impressive," he said darkly, and without warning fired five more bolts of energy. Four hit Yami's shield and were destroyed, but the fifth one penetrated it and was about to hit the Puzzle: before Yami fired a massive blast from his own item, completely destroying it. Marik's face contorted slightly, but he kept his cool, sinister look. "Very well, Pharaoh," he said, his voice dripping with venom. "It's time to take it up a notch." He raised his Rod. Darkness began emanating from it. Just a little at first, but then it came in floods. "He's calling on the Shadow Realm!" thought Yami. The darkness had now covered the entire room in such a way that nothing was visible. "And now," he said quietly. "Let the games begin!"

Without warning, several Strike Ninja's (300/250) burst out of the darkness. They were small, blue warriors, wielding knives. Quite weak, but powerful in the right numbers. The ninja's all threw their knives at him at same time. Once again, he erected a shield by using his Puzzle. He drew a card from his deck and said, "I summon my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!" A pretty female version of the Dark Magician appeared. She was donning a similar outfit to the Dark Magician, and had long, blonde hair, and a determined look on her face. "Destroy his monsters!" She nodded and raising her staff, she fired a large blast of energy at all the ninja's, destroying them. "You think that's all I've got?" growled Marik. He raised his hand, and two Flash Assailants (2000/2000) appeared. Two red-skinned warriors, dressed in baggy, white pants appeared, wielding daggers.

One of them dashed straight for Yami. And the other for his monster. The Dark Magician

Girl easily blew it apart, but the one that was going to get Yami was to far away. Yami cringed and closed his eyes, but there was an explosion and Yami opened his eyes to see the warrior being fried by a sizzling black ball of energy coming from his left. It was the Dark Magician, a cold smirk on his face. "DAM'N YOU!" a roar came from ahead. Yami turned to glare at Marik, who in turn was looking at the Dark Magician. "AGAIN YOU COME TO FIGHT ME!!" He cut off, and began chuckling madly. "Now you won't stand a chance," he roared, and there was an explosion of fire behind him, revealing an extremely creepy creature. It had long claws, and was vaguely humanoid. In place of it's face were three blue masks. It was the Masked Beast Des Guardias (3300/2500).

"Attack now!" he roared. The terrible fiend lunged forward and slashed at the Dark Magician Girl. Yami stepped backward, and a blast of energy issued forth from his puzzle, creating a protective barrier around them. "Now I'll call forth my most powerful spellcaster! The Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!" A flaming pentagram appeared on the field, and slowly up through the center of the pentagram rose a mage with blue skin clad in black tight fitting armor. His eyes were closed, and he held a long staff in his one hand. He opened his eyes to reveal a cold glare. The Dark Magician nodded at him and the Dark Magician Girl giggled lightly. "Destroy his beast! Triple Dark Magic Attack!"

The three mages crossed their staffs and the three weapons began to glow with energy. Soon blasts were forming on each one. The power issued forth, the three blasts combining into one gigantic beam of energy. It crashed into the Masked Beast Des Guardias, easily incinerating it. Yami Marik fell to his knees, clutching his chest in pain. "Had enough?" snarled Yami. Marik got up, an odd grin on his face. "Well, this contest isn't fair is it?" he chuckled quietly. "What are you talking about?" Yami said, through gritted teeth. "I'm challenging you to a duel!" he said as if Yami wasn't even there.

Yami froze. "Yes, that caught you of guard, didn't it?" he chuckled. "I have a proposition: if you win this duel, you can have the Rod, and I'll also tell you where the Pyramid of Light is." Yami gasped. "The-the Pyramid of Light?!" "You don't think that the Items could get revived and the Pyramid of Light wouldn't return as well? You fool!" he said darkly. "The Items and the Pyramid of Light are connected. They were the only magical artifacts that can create Shadow Games and wield Shadow Magic. Also, the Ka of the Item holders and Anubis are extremely powerful."

"Should we accept?" asked Yugi quietly. "I don't know Yugi. If we win, we can end this once and for all. But if we lose…" He glared at Marik and said, "Hold on there! You're only giving me one half of the story. What if we lose?" "You forfeit your God cards, your Puzzle… and your soul is sent to the Shadow Realm for certain… purposes." Yami was stunned. This was terrible. If he lost, not only would Marik posses all six Egyptian God cards, but he would also have the power of the Pharaoh. He would wield the most destructive Shadow Magic, as well as the most deadly Ka ever.

"I'm waiting Pharaoh," said Marik idly. Yami finally answered angrily, "Fine. I'll duel you. But if you lose you have to keep your word." Marik held a hand to his chest in mock hurt. "Why I'm insulted Pharaoh! I'm a man of honor! I'd never break my word. But fine. If I lose, you'll never hear of me again. But," he added slyly. "If you lose, you too must keep your end of the bargain." "Of I won't need to," snarled Yami. He activated his Duel Disk and fired out the holographic projectors. He slotted his deck, with Obelisk, Slifer and Ra, into the deck slot. Marik did the same, all the time with a maniacal grin of in his face.

(Yami: 8000, Marik: 8000)

Yami drew his first five cards, and Marik did the same. "I'll let you go first," chuckled Marik darkly. "After all, it's the last pleasure you'll ever have." Yami ignored him and drew. He observed his hand. Not bad at all. His best bet was to take Marik out hard and fast, before he was able to summon one of those Dark God cards. He narrowed his eyes and said, "I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)! in attack mode!" A mage with maroon robes then appeared on the field. He wielded a powerful sword and a shield as well. "When I normal summon this monster, his effect kicks in, allowing him to gain a spell counter. The counter gives him 300 extra attack points." The mage's sword glowed, signifying the small increase in power (1900/1000). "I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

Marik drew and smirked. "I summon Genetic Werewolf (2000/100) in attack mode!" A massive wolf appeared. It was on two legs, and had blazing red eyes. "Two thousand attack points for no tributes?" Marik grinned sadistically. "That's why it's one of a kind, Pharaoh! Go now! Attack with Undead Slash!" The monster howled and fell onto it's other two legs. It began to gallop forward and used one of its massive paws. Breaker cried out in pain before it was shattered to bits. "Then I'll end my turn!"

(Yami: 7900, Marik: 8000)

He drew and grimaced. It wasn't a good situation. He was facing a powerful monster that didn't have any drawbacks. He would just have to play it defensively for now. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Marik began to laugh. "You've don't realize it, do you Pharaoh?" "What are you talking about?!" "You've already made the fatal mistake that's going to cost you the duel! And that was accepting it in the first place!" Yami snarled and said, "Just go!" "With pleasure! Now I'll just set a monster in defense mode and attack with Genetic Werewolf!" The massive beast leapt forward and bit at Yugi's card. Suddenly, a short warrior appeared. Blocking and sending the wolf flying with it's shield. "Big Shield Guardna (100/2600) can weather your attack!" Marik growled but said, "You forget that your monster's effect switch's him into attack mode!" The monster rose on cue, revealing ridiculously long black hair and a long sword. "That makes him easy prey for my wolf next turn!" "Just end your move!" roared Yami. "_I can't let his taunting get to me… He's using my own anger against me. I have to control my emotions!!" _"Very well, I end my turn. You're dead, next turn, Pharaoh!"

(Yami: 7900, Marik: 7400)

Yami drew and observed his hand. He thought, "I do have a temporary defense, but it won't last long. I'll have to think of another strategy soon enough." He then said aloud, "I set one card face down and switch Big Shield Guardna to defense mode!" The warrior once again knelt down, bringing its shield to bear. "End turn." Marik drew. "I summon another powerful beast! Meet Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000)!" A large brown gorilla with red eyes then appeared. He began to beat his chest as he stood there roaring. "Attack his Big Shield Guardna with Alpha Punch!" The primate ran forward and punched the warrior, which shoved it's shield forward, knocking it's opponent back. It then rose up, drawing it's sword. "Now that you're monster is in attack mode, you're finished! Genetic Werewolf! Attack with Undead Slash!"

The beast rushed forward and once again slashed at the warrior. Suddenly, the Big Shield Guardna threw it's shield forward and slashed the wolf's leg, drawing a line of blood, and causing it to howl in pain. "What the.." bellowed Marik. Yami interrupted, a smirk on his face, "I used my magic card, Block Attack, to switch my Big Shield Guardna into defense mode, stopping your attack!" Marik gnashed his teeth in anger and growled, "I end my turn! You can't keep stalling forever Pharaoh! Sooner or later, you'll run out of defenses and I'll be able to tear you apart!"

(Yami: 7900, Marik: 6200)

Keeping his composure as he drew, Yami chuckled when he saw the card. "I sacrifice my Big Shield Guardna to summon my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!" The female spellcaster appeared and giggled. "Next I'll play Sage's Stone! When the Dark Magician Girl is on the field, and I've activated Sage's Stone, I can automatically summon Dark Magician from my hand or deck." He pulled out his deck and leafed through it until he found the appropriate card. He quickly shuffled his deck and slapped the Dark Magician onto his monster slot. The purple robed mage then appeared on the field and crossed his arms with his staff still in his hand. Marik snarled at the sight of the two powerful mages. "Attack his Berserk Gorilla with Dark Magic Attack!" The Dark Magician raised its staff and fired a purple ball of energy at Marik's monster, destroying it. "Now, Dark Magician Girl, follow it up and attack his face down monster!" The female spellcaster nodded and fired a blast of energy from her staff at the face down card. Marik grinned maniacally. "Sorry, Yami! It was a card I'm sure you'll never forget, Revival Jam (1500/500)!" An odd looking monster, that was vaguely humanoid and made of plasma, appeared, and was blown to pieces by the Dark Magician Girl's attack. It then suddenly reformed. "At the miniscule cost of 1000 life points, I can revive him from the graveyard!" Yami grimaced, but said, "I'll end my turn, ending the immediate threat of your powerful monsters!"

(Yami: 7900, Marik: 4700)

Marik drew his card and frowned. "I switch Genetic Werewolf to defense mode, and end turn." The powerful wolf crouched low. Drawing, Yami chuckled and said, You're finished Marik! I activate Dedication Through Light and Darkness! Now I can sacrifice my Dark Magician to summon my almighty spellcaster, the Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!" The Dark Magician disappeared. A fiery pentagram formed on the field a slowly a mage in black tight fitting armor rose up through the flames. His blue skinned slightly gleamed in the flames, and his eyes were closed shut. He opened his eyes, to reveal flaming pupils. He then took his powerful staff in his hand and swung it out, making the flames on the field instantly disappear.

Marik gasped. That monster was one of the most powerful monsters in the Dark Magician set. He would be hard pressed to win while it was on the field. "Then I activate Monster Reborn, to revive my Dark Magician!" The purple robed-mage sprung up from the shadows, and swung it's staff. "Then I'll sacrifice both my Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, to summon the most powerful magician in all of Duel Monsters, the Sorcerer of Dark Magic (3200/2800)!" A powerful mage with a long black, nearly dark purple, cape then appeared. He wore the same colored gloves, and a small hat black like the Dark Magician's. He had armor that connected to his cape. His eyes were sky blue and his hair blonde. In his hand was a powerful staff that had a crystal held in what looked like some kind of tri-prong claw.

Marik blanched. The Pharaoh had been able to get out to of his most powerful spell casters in one turn! What was he to do??? "Next I'll attack Revival Jam with Dark Magician of Chaos attack Revival Jam with Chaos Scepter Blast!" The powerful mage raised it's staff and fired a blast at the Revival Jam. It was blown apart, and to Marik's surprise, it didn't reform. "What's going on!" he roared. Yami smirked. "Any monster that is destroyed by my Dark Magician of Chaos is removed from play. Since your Revival Jam only reforms when it is simply destroyed, it won't be coming back this time!" Marik snarled in rage.

"Now, Sorcerer of Dark Magic, attack with Celestial Blast!" The sorcerer raised its staff and fired a blast of flames at the Genetic Werewolf, destroying it. "I'll end my turn!" Marik snarled at his newly drawn card. "I set one card face down and summon a monster in defense mode." Yami drew and smirking slightly, he said, "Dark Magician of Chaos, attack with Chaos Scepter Blast!" The monster twirled it's staff above its head and fired a massive blast of energy at Marik's monster. Marik's eyes flared, and he roared, "I ACTIVATE MIRROR FORCE TO REFLECT YOUR ATTACK RIGHT BACK AT YOU!!" All of the Dark Magician of Chaos's accumulated in front of the facedown card and was about to fire back, when the Sorcerer of Dark Magic raised his staff and fired a blast of his own at the energy, causing it to continue forward, and reveal an odd green that was eyeball shaped with small arms then appeared, that wielded a crossbow. It was easily destroyed. "What the…" swore Marik. Yami chuckled. "My Sorcerer of Dark Magic negates all your trap cards as long as it is on the field! Now attack with Celestial Blast!" The mighty mage raised it's staff, and fired a blast of flames at Marik, bringing him to his knees. "I end my turn!"

(Yami: 7900, Marik: 1500)

Marik drew. He began to laugh. It wad the 'Ha-ha you're dead' kind of laugh. Yami frowned. "I activate the ultimate trap card! One that cannot be denied! The PYRAMID OF LIGHT!" Yami gasped as Marik inserted the trap card into his Duel Disk. "Wait a second!" said Yami. "My Sorcerer of Dark Magic negates such trap cards!" Marik chuckled darkly. "I activate my magic card, Negate the Negation, shutting down such a defense!" Just as the Sorcerer of Dark Magic was preparing to fire a blast at shining ball in the air, a shield appeared in front of him, blocking his blast. Four bluish-white beams began to shoot out of the ball, extending all over the Shadow Realm. The four beams then began to fill in with blue energy. The walls blocked out everything outside of the duel.

"Next I'll pay a total of 1000 life points to special summon the terrible beasts, Andro Sphinx (3000/2500) and Sphinx Teleia (2500/3000), both in attack mode!" The first creature to appear was a monster that looked like it had the head of a lion, with a long flowing sandy blonde mane. It was bipedal, and dressed in a large blue robes. It had sharp, large claws. The second creature that then appeared had the head of a young woman with long pink hair. Her eyes were golden colored. From her neck down though, she had a gray fur covered body of what looked like a lion that had wings. Around the bottom of her neck, there was a thick collar with a broken chain hanging from it. Her feet bore strong, powerful sharp. She screeched at Yami.

Yami had recovered from the shock of seeing the Pyramid of Light, pointed out, "Even your stronger sphinx stands no chance against my Sorcerer of Dark Magic!" "Perhaps," chuckled Marik. "Andro Sphinx attack his Dark Magician of Chaos with Talons of Terror!" The massive beast lunged forward and with one swipe of it's claws destroyed the magician. "I'll then activate Card of Sanctity, allowing us both to draw until we hold six cards!" They both did so. "Next I'll place five cards face down and end my turn."

He had to end this and fast. He couldn't afford to attack with his sorcerer: not with so many facedown cards. There was only one card in his deck that could let him end this now. He closed his eyes. _"Heart of the cards, don't fail me this time." _He drew and glanced at his card. "Let's end this Marik!"

(Yami: 7900, Marik: 1500)

Marik snarled back. "Make your move!" "With pleasure!" "I sacrifice Alpha the Magnet Warrior, Beta the Magnet Warrior, and Gamma the Magnet Warrior, to special summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!" He slid three cards into his graveyard. A large creature that was composed of the three magnet creatures appeared on the field with is large sword. It was yellow and pink and had two translucent wings. Marik snorted. "That won't help you." "Oh it will! Next I'll sacrifice it to summon the three magnet warriors from my graveyard!" The mighty machine disappeared and it was replaced by its three component parts. "Next I'll sacrifice my three magnet warriors to summon my ultimate beast! OBELISK THE TORMENTOR (4000/4000)!"

Marik thought, "Uh oh." The three magnet warriors disappeared and the field was struck by lightning, which seemed to be coming from the outside Shadow Realm. A gigantic blue monster rose up from the shadows. It was easily a hundred feet tall. It was vaguely humanoid, but had two massive wings. Its eyes were shining red. Comparatively small horns rose from its head, and it had blue spikes on its elbows as well as it's shoulders. It was as if all the power in the world had been crammed into this beast. It roared as Marik. Both the sphinx monsters cried out.

Yami smirked. "Obelisk has finally risen. He will bring your doom!" Marik was on his knees, sweat pouring down his forehead. "Next I activate Call of the Haunted, to revive my Dark Magician of Chaos." The black-clad mage rose up among some gravestones. Marik gasped. He knew exactly what was coming. "I sacrifice my two mages to Obelisk to activate his special ability! Now it's power is infinite! It will destroy all monsters on your side of the field and deal you 4000 points of damage! Which means you're finished!" Obelisk grabbed both mages, and they disappeared into white energy, which rushed forward to hit Obelisk's head. "Go, use your Fist of Fury and end it now!"

Obelisk slammed its fists together and it became purplish-red. It flew into the sky, and blasts of energy began to form on its fists. It fired them both at the same time, annihilating both the sphinxes and continued on towards Marik. "You're done!" roared Yami. "Sorry! I activate Emergency Provisions, to sacrifice all five of my magic and trap cards, to grant me 5000 extra life points! That means I survive your attack!" Marik chuckled even as Obelisk's blast hit him. It knocked him off his feet even as the Pyramid of Light hit him. Marik got up, an odd grin on his face, even as Obelisk returned to normal. "I draw." He drew. "Then I'll activate two Dian Keto the Cure Masters!" Two orbs of energy hit Marik, giving him 2000 more life points.

(Yami: 7700, Marik: 3500)

"Now," he chuckled. "I'm going to summon a beast so powerful, so terrible, even the Egyptian God cards are dwarfed by it's might! When both Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia are destroyed at the same time, I can summon it! Meet the awesome wrath of THENIEN THE GREAT SPHINX (3500/3000)!" Yami gasped. He was summoning _that_ creature. Five thousand years ago, it was probably the most powerful of all Shadow creatures, in the class of the gods.

There was a small shake, which caused Yami to stumble. Shadows were coalescing from all over the Shadow Realm. The point of accumulation was beginning to take shape. Soon, the shadows disappeared to reveal a new creature. A monster that looked like a combination of the two sphinxes that were just destroyed then appeared. Its torso up was made up of the blonde haired sphinx, but on his back was the female sphinx. Below his torso, the sphinx had the female sphinx's body. It had two large, golden wings.

Yami gasped. No. Even Obelisk would be unable to withstand its might. "Now that Thenien has arrived, its safe to say you and your Egyptian God card are finished. In ancient times, Thenien was one of the most powerful Ka, being in the class of the six Egyptian Gods. In fact, I sued him against Exodia, who was being controlled by your pathetic councilor, Shimon. Now he's back, and he will wreak more havoc! For I pay 3000 life points, so that I can activate Thenien's effect six times. For every 500 life points I pay, Thenien gains 3000 attack points. Since I activated his ability six times, he gains a grand total of 18,000 attack points." Yami fell to his knees.

Thenien's attack points began to skyrocket. "As you can see," Marik chuckled. "I have indeed proved that I am the true master of Shadows." Thenien's power continued to grow. "Take pleasure in the fact that you're little girlfriend Gardner will soon be joining you," sneered the dark duelist. "Maybe I'll even send Kaiba to the Shadow Realm ,so that you'll can argue for an eternity, and the rest of the victims will get some amusement!" The sphinx's points finally stopped growing. "THENIEN THE GREAT SPHINX (21500/3000), ATTACK WITH RAGE OF THE SPHINX!" Thenien roared drew back it's fist. It then opened its mouth and roared, charging towards Obelisk. The god countered with a blast of energy from its fist, but the sphinx knocked it away and continued on. It punched Obelisk's chest hard, causing it to roar in pain. It then fired a blast of energy from its mouth, destroying the god.

(Yami: 0, Marik: 500)

"I win," said Marik.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

**Well, that's another chapter. I know I left it at a cliffie, but I tend to enjoy them. Will Marik take Yami's soul? If not, who will protect the Pharaoh? Read the next chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh! Advent of Power, to find out.**

**By the way, this chapter contains an original card, Negate the Negation. It's by Wolf General. Just so no one sues me. By the way, need I say: REVIEW! I've got 350 reads and 3 reviews. You'll can do better than that!**


	8. The Reckoning

CHAPTER SEVEN: The Reckoning

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.**

**Here are the reviews to be answered.**

**G.O.T. Nick: Thank you for your comments. I'm not sure about Thenien, but I will definitely edit the part with the face down cards. Thanks again. Respect!**

**Arion Girl: Well, if you hate cliffies, I'm not sure how much you'll enjoy this story. Anyway, thanks for the review.**

Yami had been knocked off his feet by the attack; smoke was rising from his chest. Marik chuckled. For some reason, Thenien hadn't disappeared. "Pathetic," he whispered. "I didn't even have to summon a God card. Now I must take my prize." He walked over to Yami, and picked Obelisk the Tormentor off his Duel Disk. He pulled out his deck and took The Winged Dragon of Ra and Slifer the Sky Dragon. He was about to take the Puzzle when a blast of golden light knocked him off his feet. "What the hell?" he swore. For standing in the darkness were Pegasus, Shadi, Ishizu, Yami Bakura and Kaiba. Bakura's ring had been shining.

Marik's eyes flashed. "Thenien, destroy these intruders!" Kaiba roared, "I don't think so. I summon my three Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500)!" The three metallic dragons appeared.

Bakura sneered, "You fool! You don't stand a chance against me! When I'm done with you your Rod will be mine! I summon the Dark Neocrofar (2200/2800) and Diabound Colonel (1800/1200)!" A blue skinned fiend appeared and screeched. The next beast to appear was a strange one. It had pale-gray skin, and had the upper body of a man, with wings. It had a tail which ended with a viper's mouth.

Pegasus nodded and said, "I summon Blue Eyes Toon Dragon (3000/2500), and Toon Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!" Cartoonish versions of the Blue Eyes White Dragon and Summoned Skull appeared, and made wacky faces at the Sphinx.

Ishizu said quietly, "I summon Skull Knight (2650/2250)!" A knight dressed in skull-like armor appeared.

Shadi said softly, "I call forth Curse of Dragon (2000/1500)!" A yellow dragon with a large horn on its upper jaw appeared.

Marik snarled. "Those shadow creatures don't stand a chance against Thenien!" Kaiba sneered, "Can't you stop your pathetic rants about all this crazy magic? All I know is that I want those three Egyptian God cards! Go, Triple White Lightning!" The three dragons opened their mouths, and fired three blasts of white energy at the sphinx.

"Dark Neocrofar, Diabound Colonel, attack!" The Dark Neocrofar fired a sphere of black energy at the monstrosity, while Diabound Colonel fired a white one.

"Go, my Toons, destroy him," cried Pegasus. The Blue Eyes Toon Dragon fired a similar attack to its terrifying counterpart, while the Toon Summoned Skull fired a ball of lightning.

Finally, upon Ishizu's command, the Skull Knight slashed into the air, creating a wave of energy.

Shadi finally said, "Attack." The yellow dragon sent forth a vortex of flames.

All the attacks went straight to the sphinx. They began to coalesce together, until they formed one translucent beam of energy. "Thenien, counter with Rage of the Sphinx!" The giant beast roared and fired a massive blast of energy from its hands. The two blasts clashed in an influx of light and power. There was a blinding wave of light, until it cleared, to reveal the two beams settling in the middle. The group of monsters was giving it everything they had, but the sphinx had enormous power. All of them, even Kaiba, were giving of large amounts of energy to their monsters, who were sending it straight at Thenien. Marik was also having a bit of a tough time. He raised the Rod and golden lgith began emanating from it, empowering the Sphinx. Suddenly, there was a yell from the door, and Yami was dimly aware of Tea, Joey, and Tristan rushing in. Joey rolled underneath the beam and grabbed Yami, pulling him to the side. "Don't worry, pal," he muttered. "That guy is dead meat."

Tea had never been so furious in her life. Marik had actually dared to hurt Yugi. Her Yugi, her childhood friend. He had gone too far. She would kill him. Contrary to her friend's beliefs, she did posses a dueling deck. A fairy deck, in fact. She drew the top card and practically screamed, "I summon Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700) and Shinato, King of a Higher Plane (3300/3000)!" A giant blue skinned angle with six golden wings appeared next to the ever-familiar Dark Magician Girl. "Attack!!" she screamed. The angel fired a disk of energy from it's hands, and the Dark Magician Girl fired its normal blast from its staff.

Tristan didn't duel to much, but still had cards. He said, "Come out and kick some butt, Sengenjin (2750/2500)!" A hideous new creature appeared. It was a blue-skinned Cyclops, and had red hair. It carried a mace as well as an axe. It rammed its hands together and fired a blast of energy at the titanic sphinx.

Finally, it was Joey's turn. "I summon the Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000) and Gilford da' Lightning (2800/1400)!!!" The powerful black dragon appeared and roared. A warrior then appeared, wearing white/golden armor that covered part of his body where part was bare, with an orange cape and a powerful sword on his back. The dragon fired a massive fireball at Thenien while Gilford followed it up with a blast of lightning from his sword.

Marik was getting worried now. All those monsters had a combined attack power of above thirty-six thousand attack points. He then chided himself that they didn't matter: only three of them had Millennium Items, and only their monsters were true Ka: the others were simply holograms, by Kaiba's technology. The Item holders weren't powerful enough to change all the holograms into Ka. Or were they?

While no one was looking, Yami Bakura had pulled Yami aside, and was talking to him in a low voice. "Listen to me, Pharaoh," he growled. "His sphinx is too powerful for us to beat. He has the Gods: there is only one alternative."

"What are you saying," moaned Yami. That last attack had really been a killer. "I'm saying that we must summon Zorc."

The last two words knocked Yami out of his dreamlike state. "What?' he said angrily. "I said we must summon Zorc!!" snarled the thief.

Yami narrowed his eyes and said, "Listen to yourself! If we summon Zorc he will destroy us all, and then the world will be left to the mercy of Marik and Zorc! Eventually, one of them will destroy the other, and the victor will destroy the everything!"

"All the Items are present! Its out only option! Can't you see that everyone is flailing? Marik's sphinx is too strong! We have to destroy it by summoning Zorc! The other fools wouldn't agree: I thought at least you would see sense! All we have to do is summon him and let him to the rest!"

Yami shook his head. "There is one other alternative," he said quietly, standing up. "Which is?" said the holder of the Ring, raising an eyebrow. "This!" he bellowed, his eyes shining. He raised a card in his hand.

Yami's shout attracted everyone's attention. They all turned to look at him. He was yelling, "Brave Attack let's me combine the power of all monsters that we control and use it to destroy your sphinx!" Suddenly, all monsters began to glow. Light was flying out of the Puzzle, and empowering all the monsters. Yami was breathing heavily. The blasts from all the monsters had combined into one giant beam of energy that was hurtling towards Thenien. Thenien snarled and pressed back with its own attack, but it was too no avail.

The combined power of all the monsters overpowered Thenien's blast, and crashed into its chest. The beast roared in pain as it was shattered to pieces. The group of monsters roared in triumph, while their masters fell to their knees. In fact, every non-Millennium Item holder passed out. Marik was gasping in pain, while he muttered to himself, "Thenien defeated? Impossible!"

Yami was also tired, but he was able to grin slightly and in between breaths, say, "it's over Marik. You've lost."

A mad grin came over Marik's face. "Oh no, Pharaoh," he chuckled quietly.

"What are you saying?" Yami snarled, as he narrowed his eyes, a dark expression on his face.

Marik began to laugh. "You fool! You still lost to me in a far duel, and that means I can still get the Egyptian God Cards!"

Yami gasped in realization. "Oh no!", even as the Curse of Dragon, one of the few remaining monsters, snapped its jaws open and spat a fire ball at Marik. Yami, who was on the other side, fired a blast of energy from his Millennium Puzzle at the evil duelist.

Marik cackled and his Rod shone. At that, he disappeared. The fireball hit the golden beam, and they cancelled each other out. Yami uttered a four-lettered word that would have normally incited many a raise in eyebrows. But no one bothered this time. All of them were too angry.

"You fool," hissed Yami Bakura as the darkness began to clear. "Now he's out there! If you had let me summon Zorc, we would have easily obliterated him!" Yami was about to retort angrily, when Shadi walked forward. He said quietly, "It is not wise to argue among yourselves. Marik's conquest jeopardizes both of your existence. He already has the three Gods, and if he gets the Puzzle, he will have the power of the Pharaoh. He may even want to get the other Items to become even stronger."

Bakura snarled and said, "Once again, I'm telling you, if we summon Zorc we will easily be able to defeat him! You of people, Pharaoh, should know his power!"

_Flashback_

_Zorc roared at the three Egyptian Gods. They roared back at him, as the Pharaoh commanded Obelisk to attack Zorc with Fist of Fate. Obelisk growled and charged forward. He punched Zorc's chest, knocking him away. Upon Atem's command, Slifer powered up its Thunder Force and spat blasts of energy from both mouths at Zorc. Ra rose up into the sky and beams of light shot down upon Zorc._

_Atem then bellowed, "Gods, combine your powers and destroy this evil now!"_

_Obelisk fired two blasts of energy from its hands, while Slifer once again spat two energy blasts from its mouth. The two blasts combined into one and struck Zorc. Ra exploded into it's God Phoenix form, when it was covered with fire, and crashed into Zorc. There was a massive explosion, and Atem had to shield his eyes._

_When the dust cleared, there was a huge chasm in the ground, and Obelisk was standing next to it, roaring triumphantly. Ra and Slifer were gliding above it, also roaring in victory. Suddenly, a gigantic black hand rose out of the chasm. All the surrounding people gasped. And then, a large, black mass, began to block out the sun. Atem was shocked. Zorc was creating a solar eclipse!_

_Darkness was flying out of Zorc's hands, blotting out the sun. Ra flew above the chasm and was about to fire an attack at Zorc, when Zorc grabbed Ra's leg in his massive hand, and Ra pulled him up out of the chasm as it screeched and attempted to fly away. Obelisk roared and grabbed onto Zorc's leg, and the three powerful beasts rose into the sky. Ra flapped it's wings even harder and was able to fly out of Zorc's reach. _

_Panicking, Atem ordered Slifer and Ra to attack. They fired Blaze Cannon and Thunder Force at Zorc, but he raised his hand and sucked the attack's in. he then opened his mouth and fired a terrible inferno of black flames at the two dragons. When the smoke cleared, the two more powerful Egyptian Gods had been turned to stone. Zorc shook his leg, and even Obelisk had been transformed into stone._

_Zorc landed, crushing Obelisk, even as the Pharaoh fell over, crying in pain. He roared sadistically, as he grabbed Slifer's statue, crushing it with his hands. Finally, he punched the stone Ra hard, easily destroying it. Atem couldn't take it any more. He collapsed: unconscious._

_End flashback_

"Don't you understand, Pharaoh?" snarled Yami Bakura. "Zorc can easily crush his pathetic Dark Gods! If you want to survive, I suggest you take my advice!" Shadi glanced at Ishizu, who shook her head. "Zorc is indeed powerful," she said softly, "but he is not as strong as the Dark Gods, who surpass all boundaries." Yami Bakura snarled, and was about to retort, when Yami snapped, "Enough is enough! We will not bring back Zorc! Even if he does defeat Marik, he is pure evil, and we cannot let him lay waste to six billion people on this Earth!"

He took a breath and continued, "Every time I defeated one of my enemies, I promised myself that as the Pharaoh of Egypt, I wouldn't allow the ancient Shadow Magic to ravage and nearly destroy the world as it did five thousand years ago. Zorc was supposedly the worst of our foes, but it seems Marik came out on the top. However, if you want to resurrect Zorc, you'll have to get pas time! And I assure you, that will never happen!!!!" He said these words so angrily, that the thief decided to shut up.

Meanwhile, the darkness had fully cleared, to reveal the damage done to the room. Pegasus, who had woken up by now, was in hysterics at the site of the damage done to his Toon statues. Kaiba had also woken up and he went straight to Yami and was about to say something, when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his coat pocket, and put it to his ear.

"Umm… Mr. Kaiba?" said a shaky voice on the other line. Yami smiled to himself, ask Kaiba snapped back, "What is it, Roland?!" "Umm… I hate to be the one to inform you but…" "_What is it Roland?_" said Kaiba icily.

Yami could have sworn that he had heard the man swallowing on the other line, before he said, "I'm sorry, sir, but ten men broke into your mansion and kidnapped Mr. Mokuba!" Kaiba's eyes flared. "Who were they?" he said dangerously.

"Well, sir, I couldn't get a good look at them, as they were all dressed in black robes, with hoods. But they were armed, and they took us by surprise. There were only five guards in the mansion at that time, and they were easily able to incapacitate them. They then took Mr. Mokuba and left!"

But Kaiba had already disconnected. "So…" he was whispering. "You'd kidnap my brother, will you?" he said quietly. He was already dialing another number. He then angrily stomped out of the room. Yami had never seen him this furious. He seemed even angrier then when he was dueling Yami, even though he was being controlled then.

He sighed inwardly. He was exhausted. "Let me take control," said Yugi. "You've fought a hard duel. You'll need the rest." Yami was glad to oblige.

Meanwhile, Joey, Tea, Tristan and Pegasus had regained consciousness. Tea had rushed up to Yugi and hugged him. When she had let go, his face was flushed bright red. Joey and Tristan playfully punched him, and then Joey said seriously, "Don't you ever do dat' again man! You lost the duel and your God cards! Next time it could be worse!" "Yeah man," added Tristan. "Don't be reckless!"

Shadi walked over to them. "What's done is done," he said gravely. "We should consider it a blessing that your Puzzle isn't gone. Luckily, all items were alerted by the exchange of power from this room, and we all rushed to your aid. We must now work fast to defeat Marik before it is too late. Also, although I hate to sound cruel, Mokuba Kaiba's kidnapping may be a bit good. Kaiba has the most resources out of us, and it might help us to find Marik."

Ishizu also came forward. "You'll must return to Domino and stay there. I will now concentrate on reactivating my Millennium Necklace, which I will then use to find out

where Marik is hiding. It shouldn't be long before we know." She held out her hand to Yugi, and said quietly, "I wish you good luck. I am deeply sorry that I wasn't able to foretell this, for once again this destiny is resting on the shoulders of one who does not deserve it."

Yugi smiled and shook his head. "It's fine. This is no one's fault but Marik's. Although I must admit, he will be difficult to defeat now that he has all six God cards."

He heard a chuckle and turned around to see Pegasus coming over to him. "Oh well, Yugi-boy. Don't worry. You'll be able to rebuild your dueling deck to match the Gods. If you need any cards, simply call and ask to speak to me. I'll have them delivered to your house. In fact, I'll send you, Kaiba-boy and Joey-boy here some new cards that have been specifically designed to support your deck-themes. I hope they will help you."

Yugi smiled and nodded. "Thank you Pegasus."

Last of all came Yami Bakura. He said quietly but aggressively, "Fine. I will not do anything against you, but remember this: once Marik is defeated, I will get me due." Yami and Yugi chuckled inwardly at this.

Tea sighed as she looked out of the window of the helicopter that Pegasus was sending them home in. It had been a long day. She had the feeling it was only the first of many. Even Yugi seemed preoccupied. She hesitantly put a hand on his hand. "Don't worry," she said encouragingly. "We'll do it together." "I hope you're right Tea. I hope your right."

Dartz gazed at the hole in the air. It was the hole between dimensions that had been created by his Divine Serpent's attack. He took one last look at the barren wasteland that was once his kingdom, and entered the hole.

Marik chuckled as he stood in the desert of Egypt. He had only been in this world for a couple of hours. And he wanted to return to the place where it had all began. His minions were at their location, but he had decided to make this little midnight visit. He felt the night desert wind hitting his face and sighed. It was the only thing he truly loved. It was like a sailor's love of the ocean. He opened his eyes but closed them immediately as they were blinded by an explosion of light. He would have been blown back, but he created a protective barrier around himself with the Rod.

When the light cleared, it revealed a figure. He was tall, and dressed in white. Strangely, he had green eyes. Behind him was a gigantic green serpent. Marik quirked and eyebrow. "Oh I know you," he said almost playfully. "You're the King of Atlantis, aren't you? I read about you in some hidden Egyptian records. From what I've heard since I returned, the Pharaoh defeated you."

Dartz snarled. "Divine Serpent, attack him!" The gigantic snake fired a blast of energy at Marik, whose eyes widened. It wasn't any ordinary blast. This beast was powerful. Very powerful. He raised his Rod and bellowed, "I summon Thenien the Great Sphinx!" The powerful monster appeared in front of him. It looked almost like reflex action when it countered the blast. The snake and the sphinx pressed forward. Neither of their blasts could make any headway. Both Dartz and Marik pumped more energy into it. Finally, their was an explosion, causing the desert sand to fly into the air.

When the smoke, dust and sand had settled, both Dartz and Marik were panting. The latter was grinning. "You're powerful. Very powerful. You could come in handy against the Pharaoh. How would you like to join me against him? He defeated you, too, didn't he? It's a perfect opportunity for revenge."

Dartz considered. Thenien's strength had impressed him. But he couldn't go by first impressions. "Prove to me your full strength," he said after some time. Marik chuckled. "Spoken like a true enemy of the Pharaoh!", as he activated his Duel Disk. Dartz smirked as a Chaos Duel Disk flashed out of nowhere and appeared on his arm, along with a full deck of cards.

"Let's duel!"

(Marik: 8000, Dartz: 8000)

**Oh well, another cliffie! This chapter was comparatively short, but I wanted to update today, so I left it at that. The next chapter will be pretty long, but you might have to wait a little longer as well. Until then.**

**P.S. REVIEW!!!!**


	9. Duel of the Dark Lords, Pt 1

CHAPTER EIGHT: Duel of the Dark Lords

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did, the last season would have ended very differently….. Let's not get into it.**

**BEWK: Thanks for the support. **

Yugi groaned as the light came into his room. Darn, he hated being woken up by the sun. Normally, he would have been sleeping till eleven, if he hadn't forgotten to close those curtains the previous night. Yami, who was an early riser, was already pacing up and down his soul room.

After he had got dressed, he ran down the stairs, to find his grandfather with a customer. The man was interested in buying Dungeon Dice Monsters merchandise, and it looked like he was taking a long time. Yugi muttered to his grandfather, "Gramps, I'm going out." "Of course, Yugi. But do have some breakfast first." Yugi nodded and went to the kitchen. After he had treated himself to cereal and milk, he yelled goodbye to his grandfather, and left.

Solomon Moto was surprised that his grandson looked so preoccupied. After all, he had just graduated from college. He should have been enjoying a few good months with his friends. He sighed and the door opened to reveal another customer.

Marik smirked at the man opposite him. "You don't know what you've gotten yourself into," chuckled Dartz. "Make your move if you feel like."

Marik nodded and drew. "I summon Thunder Nyan-Nyan (1900/800), in attack mode!" A woman in a tiger print leotard appeared along with a set of drums. She held a pair of drumsticks and began playing her drums. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

Dartz drew and said, "My, my, my, I never thought I'd draw this card on my first turn. Oh well, here goes. I activate the unstoppable field magic card, the Seal of Orichalcos!!" Holding up the powerful card, he opened his Duel Disk's field card slot and stuck the card within. Instantly, the seal spread across the field. The usual six pointed star formation then formed on the desert sand. Marik grunted angrily. That card was extremely powerful.

"Now, thanks to the Seal, all my monsters gain 500 more attack points. To start of, I'll summon Orichalcos Avarice (0+500 500/0) in defense mode!" A small, green imp appeared on the field. It was barely six inches tall, and had a long nose. It grinned cheekily and Marik. "Then I'll play the powerful spell card, Infinite Cards! As long as this is on the field, there is no limit to the number of cards we can hold in our hands." Marik didn't react. "I end my turn."

Marik drew, and thought, "I don't know the powers of his Orichalcos monsters, but once I summon a dark God, I'll be undefeatable." After a moment, he said, "I set one card face down and attack Orichalcos Avarice with Thunder Nyan-Nyan!" The creature croaked and rushing forward, it whacked the imp with its drumsticks. The imp instead, pouted and the wild lady was blown back by an explosion of green energy.

"What the hell!" snarled Marik. "How did your pathetic imp blow away my Thunder Nyan-Nyan?"

Dartz chuckled. "My pathetic imp, as you call it, happens to have the ability to survive battle with a stronger monster. It's other ability states that whenever you attack a monster with 'Orichalcos' in its name, I draw cards equal to the levels of the monsters on your side of the field. Thunder Nyan-Nyan had four stars, so I draw four cards." Dartz grinned and drew four cards bringing the total number of cards in his hand to eight. Marik snarled angrily.

"I end my turn."

Dartz drew and glanced at his next card. He chuckled. "Fell the wrath of Orichalcos Malevolence (1500 + 500 2000/0)!" A kind of humanoid dragon made completely of fire appeared and roared at Marik. Marik's Rod shone, showing the power of the opposing beast. "Attack his pathetic monster with Flame Claws!" The powerful flame beast lashed out at the Thunder Nyan-Nyan with flaming whip-like claws, destroying it. Marik grunted at the loss of his monster.

(Marik: 7900, Dartz: 8000)

"End turn. It's over of you, Marik. You'll just become another soul for the Great Leviathan."

Marik drew and smirked. He had drawn the fool into his trap. "First I'll activate my face-down Pot of Greed." He drew two cards from his deck and examined them. Not bad. His strategy was now complete. "Then I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light!"

Three glowing swords shot out of the air and appeared between Marik and Dartz. Dartz snarled angrily, "That means I can't attack for three of my turns!"

Marik smirked. "That's exactly what it means. I think I'll enjoy my newfound safety by playing an extremely rare and powerful card known as the First Sarcophagus!" Even as he inserted the card into his Duel Disk, a large, old piece of parchment appeared on Marik's side of the field.

Dartz raised his eyebrow. "That piece of torn paper will let you defeat me? I think not."

Marik chuckled. "Oh it will, in time. Next I'll place a card face down and next I'll activate Card Destruction, forcing us both to discard our entire hand and draw the same number of cards!"

Dartz shrugged and drew his hand of eight cards. Marik examined his and chuckled. "I end my turn." Just as he said this, another sarcophagus appeared on the field. Dartz gasped.

"What's the meaning of this?" he snarled.

Marik quirked an eyebrow. "It's simple. During my End Phase, the effect of the First Sarcophagus states that a card known as the Second Sarcophagus is placed on the field."

Dartz growled. "As I said before, these tattered pieces of paper are not going to help you defeat my Orichalcos deck!" He snapped the top card off his deck and with a frown, ended his turn. One of the shining swords surrounding him disappeared.

Marik chuckled quietly. The time was coming. He drew, and glancing at the card, said, "I place two more cards face down and end my turn. This also brings the Third Sarcophagus to the field." Another piece of parchment appeared, inciting a grunt from the lord of the Orichalcos.

Dartz had noticed Marik's calm and collected attitude. Dartz had only seen such confidence in one person, and he hadn't liked it. That's why he decided to be safe. "I place one card face down and switch Orichalcos Malevolence to defense mode. That's all for now."

Marik drew, and Dartz saw the maniacal grin on his face. "You fool! By leaving my Sarcophagus cards on the field, you sealed your own fate! I now send the First Sarcophagus, the Second Sarcophagus, and the Third Sarcophagus to the graveyard, to summon forth one of the most powerful beasts in Duel Monsters!" The three sarcophaguses disappeared in a flash of light. "I summon the SPIRIT OF THE PHARAOH (2500/2000)!"

In an influx of light and darkness, a terrible new monster had arrived on the scene. It was wrapped in bandages, but it wore the headpiece of a mighty pharaoh, and in one hand it carried a long staff. Then, on each side of him emerged two mummified soldiers. Two were skeletons dressed in blue robes with white headpieces, and the other two were dressed in yellow armor and carried scythes. They were two Pharaonic Protectors (900/0) and two Pharaoh's Servants (900/0).

Dartz was trembling. "What is this beast?" he snarled. Marik glanced idly over at him. "As I said before, this is the Spirit of the Pharaoh. When he's summoned to the field by the effect of the First Sarcophagus, I can automatically summon four Level 2 or lower zombies from my graveyard. I discarded these four charming fellows with Card Destruction. And now they're back, thanks to the Spirit of the Pharaoh, their master!"

Dartz had recovered from his initial shock. "You fool! All you've done is summon a bunch of ancient weaklings! My Orichalcos Avarice can't be destroyed in battle, so my life-points are safe!"

Marik ignored him. "Next I activate DNA Surgery! Now as long as it's face up on the field, all monsters are treated as one type of my choice. And my choice are machines!" Suddenly, metal plates flew out of nowhere and covered all monsters on the field. Dartz shrugged. "You've simply metallized your weaklings. I still don't see what difference it makes."

Marik grinned. "I have three cards that make all the difference in the world! Here they are: three Limiter Removals!" Dartz's breath got caught in his throat. He couldn't find it. "But that-that doubles…" "The attack points of all machine monsters on my field. Since I've activated three of them, my army's strength is increased by eight!"

Sand blew in all directions as the Pharaoh's Servants (7200/0) slammed their scythes into the ground, and the Pharaonic Protectors (7200/0) howled into the night air. Finally, the Spirit of the Pharaoh raised it's staff and a blast of lightning struck it, raising it's power dramatically (20000/2000). Suddenly, Dartz smirked. "Both my monsters are in defense mode, and as I said before, my Orichalcos Avarice can't be destroyed in battle! At the end of your turn, your monsters will be destroyed by Limiter Removal."

Marik shrugged. "Perhaps…. Not if I activate this: Raikegi!" Without warning, a massive bolt of lightning lanced out of the sky and struck Dartz's two Orichalcos monsters. He cried out in shock. "What is the meaning of this?"

Marik smirked. "Raikegi lets me destroy all your monsters. Now you're wide open. And that means your dead. Spirit of the Pharaoh- end it with…" he was cut off by Dartz, who immediately said, "I activate my powerful trap card, Threatening Roar! This means you can't declare an attack this turn. So you're monsters are wasted!"

Marik snarled as an invisible wall blocked his monsters from advancing forward. Dartz smirked.

"Fine. I end my turn." As he said this, the five zombies roared and were shattered to pieces. Mari grimaced but said nothing. Dartz drew and said, "I activate mystical Space Typhoon to destroy DNA Surgery!" A black tornado spun through the sand and destroyed Marik's magic card.

"Then I summon Orichalcos Black Centaur (1800 + 500 2300/1000) in attack mode!" A hideous black centaur appeared. It had a large sword and howled at Marik. "My powerful beast allows me to destroy one magic or trap card on the field, and I choose your Swords of Revealing Light!" The centaur growled and slashed the air, generating a wave of black magic, which shattered the remaining sword.

"Attack his life-points directly!" The centaur unleashed another wave of energy, which nearly knocked Marik of his feet. Dartz sneered. "End turn."

(Marik: 5600, Dartz: 8000)

It was now Marik's turn. He drew, and a dark look crossed his face. "You fool! Your pathetic Seal is no match for the card I'm about to play! I activate the trap card, Pyramid of Light!" A blue beam then shot up into the higher part of the field. Four beams then shout out of the beam when it reached the top of the field. The four beams then began to fill in with blue energy, to where the seal and the pyramid were within one another.

Dartz was shocked and first, but then recovered. "So what difference does it make?" he sneered.

"Oh it makes plenty of difference! BY paying 1000 life points, I can summon up two nightmarish creatures! Meet, Andro Sphinx (3000/2500), and Sphinx Teleia (2500/3000)!" The blonde, bipedal, male sphinx and the pink-haired, quadruple, female sphinx appeared and roared at Dartz. "Luckily for you, they can't attack the turn that they're summoned. That's why I'll have to end my turn. Next turn, you're finished."

(Marik: 4600, Dartz: 8000)

Dartz drew, and thought, "His sphinxes are powerful, but I've got cards that are nigh indestructible in my deck. I'll simply stall till I draw them, and then he'll be finished." He held up a card and said, "I summon Orichalcos Demon Cyclops (500 + 500 1000/2500), in defense mode." A brown, one-eyed giant appeared in a crouching position on the field. "I end my turn."

Marik drew. "I activate Rush Recklessly, granting Sphinx Teleia 700 attack points this turn! Now Andro Sphinx attack his centaur, Sphinx Teleia attack the Cyclops!" The two sphinxes screeched and rushed forward, slashing the two monsters. Dartz gasped as they continued on and slashed him as well. "What the…" he gasped.

(Marik: 4600, Dartz: 5250)

"When Andro Sphinx destroy a monster in defense mode, you lose half its attack points. And the same goes for Sphinx Teleia, except for defense points." Dartz grimaced at the loss of life points. Marik smirked. "End turn."

Dartz drew and chuckled. "I activate Orichalcos Revival, which lets me special summon an Orichalcos monster from my graveyard. I choose Orichalcos Demon Cyclops (500 + 500 1000/2500), in defense mode!" Marik raised an eyebrow but kept silent. "Then I'll sacrifice it to special summon a new beast! Meet Orichalcos God Cyclops (1500 +

500 2000/4000)!" The terrible beast disappeared in a flash of shining light. Marik had to cover his eyes as he grunted.

It was replaced by a new, horrifying creature. It was at least forty feet high, and was clad in black and white armor. It had a massive shield and sword, and in the middle of its face was one horrible, huge yellow eye. "This card has the highest defense in Duel Monsters, and can only be summoned by sacrificing Orichalcos Demon Cyclops, when the Seal of Orichalcos is on the field. Let's see your sphinxes get past him," said Dartz confidently.

Marik sighed as Dartz ended his turn. This green-haired man was irritating him. He drew and frowned. "End turn."

Dartz drew and said, "I'll activate the magic card Reinforcement of Power! By paying 1000 life points, all Orichalcos monsters get their defense points doubled!" Marik didn't like the sight of a bolt of lightning striking the powerful beast, increasing it's power drastically (2000/8000). "I place one card face down and end my turn." Marik drew and smirked. "I activate Double Spell. By discarding a card from my hand I can take one magic card from your graveyard. And I know just the card I want. Mystical Space Typhoon! And I'll use it to destroy my Pyramid of Light!" Dartz gasped as a tornado exploded out of nowhere and shattered the white pyramid. As this happened, the two sphinxes cried out in pain and disappeared as well. "What the-" swore Dartz.

"When Pyramid of Light is destroyed, both Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia are removed from play." "How does that help you," snarled Dartz. "Well, this is going to be a surprise. I can now pay 500 life points to summon a certain card that I'm sure you remember from my deck. Thenien the Great Sphinx (3500/3000)!"

Sand blew in all directions as the new beast appeared and pawed at the Seal. He roared at Dartz, who smirked and said, "Your beast is 4500 attack points to weak to take out my God Cyclops. What a waste!"

Marik's expression darkened and said, "Not really. I can give up 500 life points to increase my beasts attack points by 3000!" Dartz shook his head as the sphinx roared while it's ATK shot up to 6500. "Still not enough."

"Maybe now. However, I can equip it with the magic card: Megamorph!" Dartz choked. "But that double's your beast's attack points!"

"Too true. When my life points are lower than yours, Megamorph doubles my monster's original attack points!" Even the Seal seemed to shake as Thenien (10000/3000), let out a massive roar. "Now that my sphinx has reached an unrivalled level of power, your one-eyed freak is done! Attack with Rage of the Sphinx!"

Thenien rammed its fists together and slammed its them into the Cyclops's shield. It tried to resist, but the sphinx roared and with one surge of power let lose a devastating blast of energy, which resulted in an explosion. Dartz covered his eyes to block the smoke, while Marik laughed. But, to his shock, the Orichalcos God Cyclops was still present after the smoke cleared. "What's the meaning of this?" snarled Marik angrily. Dartz sneered.

"Orichalcos God Cyclops's effect states that I can give up any number of it's attack points to add it to it's defense points. So as you can see, Orichalcos God Cyclops (0/10000), could survive your lion cub's attack!" Marik's face contorted in anger as Dartz laughed. "I set two cards face down and end my turn. But you do realize that although your overweight beast serves as a good defense, my sphinx still has 7000 attack points, and nothing in your deck can beat it!"

(Marik: 3600, Dartz: 5250)

Dartz replied, "We'll see." He drew. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

Marik drew and glanced at his card. "End turn."

Now it was back to Dartz. Slowly he drew. He looked at the card and began to laugh. Marik frowned. "What's so funny?" Dartz sneered. "You fool! You don't realize what you're in for! I've just drawn one of the most powerful cards in existence! But first I'll pay 500 life points to special summon Orichalcos Kyutora (500 + 500 1000/500) in defense mode on my back row." A spike formed eyeball then appeared on the field. "Next I'll activate Premature Burial. By paying 800 life points, I can revive a monster from my graveyard. I choose Orichalcos Black Centaur (1800 + 500 2300/1000)!"

Once again the hideous beast rose and snarled at Marik.

(Marik: 3600, Dartz: 4450)

Marik raised an eyebrow. "You summon an eyeball and a horse? I don't call those cards of great power." Dartz smirked. "Just you wait. I now sacrifice all three Orichalcos monsters to summon a beast so powerful, so great, that the Gods themselves feared it's might."

As he said this, a hole seemed to appear in the clouds. Lightning struck the three monsters, and they screamed in pain as they shattered to pieces. Dartz's voice was trembling as he continued. "Eons ago, before any humans were alive, before the Universe had been created, a group of entities existed. They were to become the Gods. But some were so ambitious and powerful, that the others feared them so much, they expelled them from the realm. But with the creation of Shadow Magic all those years ago, they were released. One of them was the beast I'm about to summon. He doesn't quite qualify as a God, but I assure you, he doesn't need to."

He raised his fist to the sky. "Now that I've sent my three monsters to the graveyard, I can summon this! Meet Orichalcos Demon Dragon (?)!" Marik cringed as he heard a cross between a screech and a roar. The hole in the clouds widened as a terrifying new beast slowly floated out of it. It was at least four hundred feet long, with a wingspan twice as big. It was jet-black in color, and had glowing, green eyes. Its limbs had long claws, and two razor-sharp horns issued from its head. It looked like a devilish version of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, except the Red-Eyes didn't look so horrible. It let out another roar, nearly shattered Thenien the Great Sphinx, who, against this entity, didn't seem so great anymore.

It couldn't really fit in the Seal, so it landed on it's hind-limbs behind Dartz and roared again. The noise would have chilled any normal man's blood, but Marik looked bored. "He's here at last," sneered Dartz. "I must say, I've been waiting for this moment. A chance to demonstrate my full power."

Marik chuckled. "I'm not impressed. You say you'll summon a beast that has god-like powers. You summon this pathetic lizard." Dartz snarled.

"You fool! My dragon has powers far beyond anything you've ever seen! Here's a small taste! It's so powerful, it can only be summoned by sacrificing three Orichalcos monsters when the Seal is on the field. It's attack points are equal to the original attack points of every Orichalcos monster in my graveyard." Marik raised an eyebrow as Dartz pulled out the cards from his graveyard slot. "Orichalcos Avarice has 0, Orichalcos Malevolence has 1500, Orichalcos Black Centaur has 1800, Orichalcos Demon Cyclops has 500, Orichalcos God Cyclops has 1500, and Orichalcos Kyutora has 500. That's a grand total of 5800. Not forgetting the Seal itself, for a final attack of 6300. The same goes for it's defense points, which happen to be 9000." Marik raised an eyebrow as the Seal began to glow and the Orichalcos Demon Dragon (6300/9000), roared at Thenien. "Well, congratulations, but that's still not enough."

"It doesn't need to be that high. I can simply used its special ability, which lets me destroy one card on the field by discarding a card from my hand. Of course, my target is your sphinx." The gigantic dragon opened it's mouth and a wave of green energy shot towards Thenien. But Marik quickly countered, "I activate Interdimensional Matter Transporter, which lets me remove my Sphinx from play for this turn, saving it from your attack." Dartz shrugged as Thenien disappeared.

"You've done my job for me. It's over. Orichalcos Demon Dragon, attack directly with Divine Destruction!" The dragon opened it's mouth and a blast began to form in its mouth. It was black this time, and was also glowing. With a roar, it fired the blast at Marik. Dartz laughed, "You're done!" "Not if I block the attack! I use Gilasaurus' (1400/400) effect to special summon it to the field in defense mode, stopping your attack."

Marik smirked at Dartz's frustrated cry as a small, brown dinosaur was blown apart by the Divine Destruction attack. Dartz was furious. "YOUR LIZARD SAVED YOU THIS TURN, BUT NEXT TIME YOU WON"T BE SO LUCKY!"

Marik ignored him and drew. Suddenly, a dark look of satisfaction covered his face. "My, my, my…." he chuckled quietly. "All that talk about Gods, and you still have yet to face a true one."

"Explain yourself," spat Dartz.

Marik ignored him. "First, Thenien returns to the field. Unfortunately, Megamorph is no longer active. But no matter." The sphinx once again appeared and roared at the dragon, but was silenced by a growl. "Then I'll activate my trap card, Return from the Different Dimension! By paying half my life-points, I can summon monsters that have been removed from play. The limit would be five, but I only need two. "Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia." The two smaller sphinxes appeared and growled.

"Your lion cubs won't help you," said Dartz. Then it him. "That can only mean you're going to use them to…"

"So you're not that foolish after all," chuckled Marik. "I hereby sacrifice my three sphinxes to summon the first of my Dark God cards. You're dragon may be powerful, but my beast is in a whole different league. Meet, Giglamesh the Chaos Warrior (?)!!!!!!"

**Well, let me tell you, this chapter hasn't been easy to write. I had to make up quite few cards, which I'm not too good at. Hope you enjoyed. It was nearly four thousand words, so I stuck to my promise. REVIEW.**

**Original Cards**

**Orichalcos Avarice, Orichalcos Black Centaur, Orichalcos God Cyclops, Orichalcos Demon Cyclops, Orichalcos Demon Dragon, Reinforcement of Power, Orichalcos Revival.**

**Be sure to stick around for the next chapter, where the abilities of the first Dark God will be revealed, and a certain King of Games learns a certain something…….**


	10. Duel of the Dark Lords, Pt 2

CHAPTER NINE: Duel of the Dark Lords, Pt 2

**Well, here's the next chapter. Hope you all like it. **

**Here are two reviews that require answering.**

**Rogue1979: Thanks. Frankly, I thought that I was making Marik a bit OOC with all the comments and jokes.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Glad you read it. Thanks for the comments, and yup, expect some intense duels in this story. Thanks again.**

**Well, on with the story.**

Kaiba leaned against the wall of the exhibit. Why on earth did Ishtar have to conduct these useless 'meetings'? In the museum at that. Of course, she had invited the geek squad as well, along with the spiky haired freak. He would have never come, unless his brother hadn't been kidnapped. Kaiba had contacted the Secret Service at once, and even the FBI. They couldn't find a trace of him. Getting even angrier, he had paid a brilliant private detective $250,000 to find Mokuba, but even that was unsuccessful. He had put aside all his work, and was extending all his resources to track down Mokuba, but it was in vain.

"Hey Kaiba," said Yugi, trying to sound cheerful. Seto ignored him and closed his eyes. "Forget rich boy Yuge," said Joey. Kaiba opened his eyes and was about to retort, when Ishizu walked into the room. She nodded. "Thank you all for coming."

"But why'd you call us Ishizu?" asked Yugi. "Did you find out where Marik is hiding?" Ishizu sighed. "No." Yugi's face fell. "By that I mean that I do not know exactly where he is. His Millennium Rod is blocking out my powers. Both me and Bakura tried our hardest to locate him, but it was impossible. But I do have a rough idea."

"He's in New York," spoke up Bakura. He had already changed into Yami form, and was grinning smugly. Joey almost fell over. "Was, in New York, that is to say," he continued. "He is currently in Egypt, but it seems to be temporary, as the three Gods are still in New York."

"However, when we located him at Egypt, we felt another terrible power there." "Anubis?" said Yugi fearfully. Ishizu shook her head. "What my brother's dark side told you wasn't quite accurate. Anubis is merely a shadow, unlike Marik. The Pyramid of Light does exist, but only a fragment of his soul is present in it as most of his being went into the formation of the Dark Gods. But it is enough to inhabit someone's body. I must warn you, if you encounter him, do not attempt to duel him. If you lose, he will be able to take control of your body."

"But enough on that subject," said Bakura. "You'll want to know the identity of the other powerful entity there." "Who is it?" asked Yugi quietly. "Dartz."

Everyone except Kaiba fell over in shock. But even Kaiba was shocked. "Dartz?" he gasped. Ishizu nodded. "We were shocked as well. It seems that somehow nearly all the powerful entities of ancient times have been revived. I do not know how, but we must concentrate on the problem at hand. My Millennium Necklace has allowed me to glean some devastating information." "What's that?" asked Joey.

"Everyone who has ever played the Seal of Orichalcos will be under Dartz's control." "But that means Yami…" Ishizu cut him off. "The Pharaoh's Puzzle will protect him against Dartz. He will be able to resist the grip of the Orichalcos, but I'm afraid everyone else won't be so lucky." Joey thought sadly, "Mai…"

Kaiba snarled, "So the creeps are in New York? Fine. I'll call the NYPD." Ishizu shook her head. "Kaiba? Don't you realize that mortal policemen don't stand a chance against Marik and Dartz? You probably will get your brother back, but Marik will use him as leverage in a duel. He'll send one of his minions to steal your Blue Eyes White Dragons in exchange for your brother."

Kaiba grunted but didn't say anything. "So we'll be going to New York?" asked Yugi. Ishizu nodded. "I'll be able to buy you tickets." Someone cleared his throat. Kaiba said quietly, "I'm leaving tomorrow for New York. If you want, Yugi, you can accompany me. Although I hate to admit it, I'll need your help if I'm going to win those Dark Gods from Marik."

Yugi smirked inwardly. Just like Kaiba to say something like that. He would try his luck…. "Sorry, Kaiba, but I'll stay with my friends." Kaiba glared but said, "Fine, bring your geek squad too. But, Wheeler, I swear, if you so much as scratch one of the seats, I swear I will kill you!"

He turned around and walked away. Before leaving, he said, "Be at the airport tomorrow at nine a.m. sharp." He then walked away. Tea sweat-dropped anime style. Joey muttered, "Rich-boy always has to be dramatic, doesn't he?"

Marik broke into evil laughter as the three sphinxes disappeared, one by one. He slapped a card onto his Duel Disk. At that second, all Hell broke lose. Five bolts of lightning struck the dueling field, and thunder was heard. As Dartz glanced around, he could make out vague shapes of darkness and light swirling into the field from all directions. Marik raised a hand and said, "Come forth, my almighty God!" The streams of light and darkness slammed into each other and formed a new, humanoid shape.

There was a flash of light, and a new monster was standing in front of Marik. It wasn't as gigantic as the Obelisk, Slifer and Ra, but was large nonetheless, standing at least fifty feet tall. It was dressed in shining black and white armor; with plates covering it's shoulders and knees. Spikes issued from the plates. It had a solid steel helmet, which was designed in such a way, that only its blood red eyes were visible. In one hand it held a long, red daemon-blade, with a symbol on the pommel. The symbol represented streams of light and darkness streaming in from all directions. It had a gray cape hanging from it's shoulders.

Dartz shuddered. The most unnerving part of the creature was that it was absolutely silent and didn't seem alive.

"Finally, my God has arrived…" Marik chuckled quietly. Dartz tried to save face and sneered, "What was with the light-show?"

"Doesn't the name mean anything to you? He is Giglamesh the _Chaos_ Warrior. E is the avatar and embodiment of chaos throughout the ages. He is the god and creator of chaos. In a way, he is chaos itself. Hence his chaotic summoning."

Suddenly, Giglamesh glowed and looked up at Dartz. "Giglamesh's attack and defense points are quite strangely determined as well. They are equal to the combined number of stars of the sacrificed monsters multiplied by four hundred."

Dartz gasped.

"All three sphinxes had 10 stars, time three, for a total of 30. If you multiply that by 400, my sphinx has 12000 attack and defense points." Giglamesh gave a strange cry and raised his sword. Translucent images of Andro Sphinx, Sphinx Teleia and Thenien flew into his sword. The dark God (12000/12000) had now reached an unmatched level of power.

"And I only had to use it's first ability," Marik sneered. Dartz couldn't believe it. The chaos warrior was almost twice as strong as his dragon. "Now, Giglamesh, end it with Divine Chaotic Slash!" The God growled and leapt up and forward. It slashed its blade sideways and sliced off the Orichalcos Demon Dragon's head. There was an explosion. Marik sneered. "I win." He saw the life-point counter. "What the hell?!"

(Marik: 0, Dartz: 0)

Kaiba had just reached his mansion. He got out of the limo and was about to enter the house when a voice said, "Seto Kaiba?" Kaiba wheeled around to see a young teenager. He must have been fifteen or sixteen. He had blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes. With a smooth face, he was dressed in a white T-shirt and blue jeans. On his arm was a Duel Disk.

"Who are you?" said Kaiba shortly. "My name is Kevin Hunter."

"Well, yippee for you," said Kaiba sarcastically and walked to the door, but the boy blocked him. "What d'you want?" he snarled. "I'm here to challenge you to a duel." "I don't have time to duel dregs like you. Get out of the way or I'll call security." Kevin shrugged. "Fine. Never knew that Seto Kaiba turns down duels from people whom he could beat so easily."

Kaiba snarled. He hated these kind of challengers. It was like emotional blackmail! Of course, if this Hunter kid went to the press, all those fools out there would believe it. "Be at the Kaiba Corp. Duel Dome in ten minutes."

Kevin smirked. "Seto Kaiba…. I've waited long for this. Finally, I'll get my due."

Ten minutes later, at the Duel Dome, Kaiba was glaring at Kevin. "You're going to regret ever challenging me. Especially, when I'm in a bad mood," he growled, activating his Duel Disk. "I don't think so," replied Kevin, slotting his deck in. "We'll just see which one of us is the true master of dragons."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Dragons, huh? Interesting. But I still think you'll find that none of your little reptiles can stand up to the might if the Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

(Seto: 8000, Kevin: 8000)

Kaiba looked at his hand. "Challengers go first." Kevin snickered. "Fine. I'll place a monster in defense mode. I think I'll call it a turn."

Kaiba drew his sixth card. "I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode!" A sapphire armored dragon appeared on Kaiba's field. It had red eyes. "Attack with Ruby Burst!" The dragon fired a ball of red energy at the facedown card, revealing it to be a red and white dragon with a long neck before it was destroyed.

Kevin chuckled. "It was Masked Dragon (1400/1100). When he's destroyed, I can summon one dragon with 1500 or less attack points from my deck to the field." He held up a card. "I choose the Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500/1100)!" A long, pink serpentine beast appeared on the field. In fact, it looked like a translucent dragon from Chinese mythology.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "That pathetic snake is going to help you defeat me? I don't think so." Kevin rolled his eyes. "You fool. Dueling doesn't depend on the cards. It depends on how you use them. If you end you're turn, I'll show you the true power of the Divine Dragon Ragnarok." "Fine," spat Kaiba. "I'll place one card face down and leave it at that."

Kevin drew and chuckled. "I activate Polymerization, fusing the Lord of Dragons (1200/1100) in my hand with Divine Dragon Ragnarok to summon my almighty fusion, King Dragun (2400/1100)!" Kevin discarded the Lord of Dragons and the Divine Dragon Ragnarok. There was a flash of light, and a new beast was on the field. It had a long, brown serpentine body, with the torso and head of a fiend with two green wings.

Kaiba's breath caught in his throat. "Next I'll activate it's special effect. I can now automatically special summon a dragon from my hand. And I choose Kaiser Glider (2400/2200)!" A metallic new dragon appeared. It looked like a smaller version of the Winged Dragon of Ra. Kaiba swore angrily.

"Kaiser Glider, attack his Luster Dragon with Ancient Flame!" The metallic dragon threw back it's head and fired a wave of fire at Kaiba's dragon. "Sorry, I activate Sarketsu Armor, which destroys your attacking monster!" Plates of metal flew in from all directions and covered the Luster Dragon. But the flames continued on and burned it to a crisp.

"What the…" snarled Kaiba.

"Did I forget to mention that King Dragun protects all my dragons from spell, trap and monster effects?" said Kevin. Kaiba snarled as his Luster Dragon was blown away. "King Dragun, your turn! Attack with Dragon Master Blast!" The human-adder fired a blast of rainbow colored lights that consumed Kaiba and brought him to his knees. "End turn."

(Seto: 5100, Kevin: 8000)

Kaiba drew. "I place a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Now it was back to Kevin. "King Dragun attack!" The powerful reptile fired a beam of rainbow energy at Kaiba's monster. "It was Masked Dragon (1400/1100)!" The monster that Kevin had used a few turns ago was destroyed by the powerful beast. "And I'll use it to summon my almighty Spirit Ryu (1000/1000) in attack mode." A new monster appeared that looked like a hybrid of a pterodactyl and a dragon. It opened it's wings and screeched. Kevin shrugged.

"Kaiser Glider, attack!" "Idiot," muttered Kaiba. "I activate Spirit Ryu's effect! By discarding any number of dragons from my hand I can increase it's ATK by 1000 for each dragon until the end of the turn. And I'll discard three!" Kevin gasped as Kaiba slid three cards into his graveyard and the Spirit Ryu's ATK shot up to 4000. "Oops," he thought, as the Spirit Ryu let out a backlash of white energy, which consumed his Kaiser Glider.

(Seto: 5100, Kevin: 6400)

"I end my turn," said Kevin. He then pointed out, "Spirit Ryu does lose it's bonus attack points." Kaiba shrugged. "Like I care."

He drew and grinned. "First I'll switch Spirit Ryu to defense mode." The dragon drew its wings around itself. "Then I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

Kevin drew. "King Dragun, attack!" The serpentine monster blasted the Spirit Ryu with its Dragon Master Blast, obliterating it. "I think I'll call it a turn."

Kaiba drew and said, "I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards." He snapped the top two cards of his deck and began to laugh. "You fool! You dared to challenge me, and now you'll pay the price! I activate Dragon's Mirror, which let's me remove fusion material dragons in my graveyard from play, to summon the fusion monster that they form." He slid three cards out of his graveyard and Kevin gasped when Kaiba revealed them to be three Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500).

"I'm fusing my three Blue Eyes White Dragons to summon my ultimate fusion. Meet the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!" The gigantic three headed behemoth appeared behind Kaiba and roared at the comparatively tiny King Dragun. "Next I'll activate Megamorph. When I have less life-points then you do, my dragon's attack points are doubled."

Kevin paled as the Ultimate Dragon's ATK shot up to 9000. "End it," said Kaiba dismissively. "Neutron Blast Attack!" The dragon three all it's three heads back, and blue energy began to form in them. When it had finished charging up it's attack, it hurled the attack at Kevin's serpentine monster, which tired to defend itself, but was completely incinerated.

Kaiba's Duel Disk powered down as the Ultimate Dragon roared in victory and disappeared. Kevin fell to his knees; his eyes open wide in shock. "H-how could I lose?" Kaiba heard him muttering. "Get over it, kid," Kaiba sneered. "You were facing a World Champion, odds were you'd lose no matter what."

Kevin looked up and whispered, "The Blue Eyes…" Kaiba chuckled. "The Blue Eyes White Dragons? Now I see. You were dueling me in the hope of winning them. Well, get this into you head, Hunter. No duelist has ever defeated the Blue Eyes White Dragons, save Yugi Moto. But that's not the point. My advice to you is to get the foolish idea of winning my dragons out of your head. As I just said, you'll have to beat a World Champion to get them."

He turned around and began to walk away. Kevin glared at him, and something in his mind clicked. Without thinking, he rushed forward and attempted to punch Kaiba. With lightning fast reflexes, Kaiba whirled around and grabbed his hand, and punched him away with his other fist. Kevin was knocked to the ground, with a cut on his chin. "I lost," he whispered.

Kaiba snorted. "Idiot. Get out of here, unless you want me to call security. Lucky for you, I'm busy with other matters, and I won't file a complaint against your attack on me." He then walked out of the Duel Dome to his waiting limousine.

Kevin couldn't understand. He had studied each and every one of Kaiba's duels, learning his strategy, and devising ways to counter it. It wasn't possible. He had built his deck so that it would counter Kaiba's exactly, throwing light on all its weaknesses. "How could he have lost???

"Explain yourself," Marik roared at Dartz angrily, as the Seal began to contract. However, it was a draw, so neither had lost their souls. "That's just my Orichalcos Demon Dragon's effect," smirked Dartz.

"When it's destroyed, it inflicts damage to your life-points equal to it's attack points. Since your life-points were only 3600, you lost as well, ending the match in a draw."

Marik's furious look gradually changed to a morbid smile. "I must say, that was impressive," he said slowly. "You were able to physically survive the onslaught of my Dark God: only one has been able to do that before, and that was a very long time ago."

Dartz smirked at the meaningless praise and said, "So what's your conclusion?" Marik grinned back. "I think I'm interested in having your help for my revenge against the Pharaoh." He held out a hand. Dartz shook it, never once letting his gaze down.

Dartz let go and smirked, "So do you really think tat you can defeat the Pharaoh?" Marik's expression darkened and he said, "Of course I can! I already have, but I've only got the three Gods. Next time I duel him, I will get his Puzzle as well. And no, the Gods cannot be used to revive your goldfish."

Dartz snarled. "The Great Leviathan is more powerful than all six of your Egyptian Gods put together! You'll see. I'll be the one who crushes the Pharaoh." Marik shrugged. "That's your view of it. Anyway, I'm returning to my base in New York City." "Fine." Marik raised his Rod, and Dartz's Orichalcos stone began to glow. They were just about to disappear, when Marik stopped. Dartz questioned, "What's the matter?" "Oh, I just have to take care of something. You go on ahead. I'll be back."

Fine," said Dartz, and vanished. Marik grinned and vanished as well.

Kevin had now left the Duel Dome, but was still in shock. He tumbled into his motel room in the outskirts of Domino, and collapsed on his bed. The words were still rolling through his head, "I lost, I lost, I lost……" Suddenly, there was a glowing of light in the darkness and Kevin was aware of another person in the room. He got up and snarled, "Whose there?" The voice chuckled, bemused. "Kevin Hunter…."

Kevin snarled and said, "Who are you?" He rushed forward and tried to punch the figure, but his punch was blacked by an invisible barrier. "What the hell?" he snarled angrily. The man walked out of the shadows, and revealed himself. When he saw him, Kevin gasped.

He was dressed in a black T-shirt, and khaki pants. He was wearing a purple overcoat. In his hand was a rod made of gold with a ball on one end. His face was terrifying, with all kinds of scars and marks on it. He had spiky, golden hair. "You want to defeat Kaiba, don't you?" he said lustily.

Kevin, bewildered, muttered, "Yeah, I do. What's it to you?" The man chuckled. "Oh, it means a lot. You see, I can give you the means to defeat him, and take his Blue Eyes White Dragons." Kevin gasped. "How can I get it?"

The man smirked. "Be at the site of the World Trade Center in New York at one a.m. tomorrow." He raised his rod. "By the way, the name's Marik." He then disappeared. Kevin was dazed. A strange man had suddenly appeared in his room and told him he would help him defeat the duelist he'd wanted to duel since he had known about the game. His duelist's mental voice spoke out. He had to do it. Kaiba was another target and was meant to be defeated.

It was too much for Kevin. Finally, he made up his mind and got up. He would do it.

Yugi was deep in thought as he sat in Kaiba's plane. A lot had happened during the past few days. Yami's return was one of the good things, but everything else: down in the dumps. He sighed and leaned back on his reclining chair. Everyone else was asleep, as the flight was very long, for Domino was on the west coast of the United States, while New York was six hours away.

He had to admit, Kaiba's plane was luxurious, with every seat like a First Class seat on the most expensive airlines in the world, but that really didn't change anything. He sighed again, and jumped up. He then walked over to the window on the plane. He couldn't see anything, as they were cruising at Mach 1.8, forty-five thousand feet above ground level.

"Couldn't sleep, huh," said a grumpy voice behind him. Yugi grinned. "So what's up, Kaiba?" The CEO didn't answer, and instead stared out of the window. "That fool Marik," he whispered. "He messed with me, and he will pay." "That he will," said Yugi quietly. Kaiba could se the anger in his eyes. It was unnatural to see the calm, quiet Yugi Moto like this, but Kaiba didn't blame him. Marik Ishtar, or whoever that crazy fool was, had committed more crimes in his life than anyone Kaiba knew. He clutched his fist tightly as his nails dug into his palm, nearly drawing blood.

For a reason he couldn't fanthom, Kaiba casually told Yugi about the incident with Kevin Hunter. This perked Yugi's interest. "Strange. I know that there must be duelists who are desperately after your Blue Eyes, just as there are duelists who want my God cards, but I didn't think anyone would go to such lengths as trying to physically assault you." Kaiba was about to answer, when they suddenly heard a yell, "HOLY CRAP! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

**IMPORTANT. PLEASE READ. **

**Does anyone know the time difference between the original series of Yu-Gi-Oh, and Yu-Gi-Oh GX? If you do know, please speak up, as this could be extremely important to the plot. By the way, a note on Kevin Hunter would be necessary.**

**He was created by BEWK-Blue Eyes White Knight, for those of you who haven't seen him in other Yu-Gi-Oh stories. I think it's fitting that this chapter is dedicated to BEWK. **

**P.S. I don't want to sound like I'm going on about this, but 676 reads and 8 reviews kind of irritates a guy. Just press the little purple button and leave your comments. Thanks a lot.**


	11. To Defeat a God

CHAPTER TEN: To Defeat a God

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Need I say it again? 

**Review time!**

**BEWK: Thanks a lot, man. IF you're worrying that Kevin lost. Don't worry. I've got plans for him.**

**DragonWarrior135: Well, that may be a bit too much for this setting, but thanks anyway. See the end of the chapter for details.**

Drake Anderson was a successful fiend duelist, and ranked fourth in the Duel Academy's official list of top ten duelists, under Zane Truesdale, Alexis Rhodes, and Chazz Princeton, even though the Slifer Red wonder, Jaden Yuki, would have been able to beat him in a duel if they had dueled. Currently, he was dueling one of the top Ra Yellow duelists, a new student who went by the name of Kyo Amakusa. Kyo used a fairy deck, and it was an exact counterpart to Drakes.

They were dueling out on the beach near Duel Academy, as it was a Sunday, and they had time to themselves. Kyo had 5400 life points, five cards in his hand, two cards face down in his magic/trap card zone, and had his powerful Shinato, King of a Higher Plane (3300/3000) face up in attack mode. Drake on the other hand, had one card face down, one card in his hand and two Goblin Attack Forces (2300/0), in defense mode. He had only 1500 life points.

"Face it," grinned Kyo. "It's over Drake. Your fiends can't overcome my fairies." "Oh yeah?" shot back Drake. "Need I remind of that day, two months ago, when I…."

Kyo flushed. "Yeah I know, you beat me in five turns with 8000 life points. But this time, I'm gonna win! Since I just destroyed your Goblin Elite Attack Force (2200/1500), I'll have to end my turn now."

Drake drew, and his two groups of green goblins snickered for seemingly no reason. As he drew, Drake grinned. "Well, Kyo, I just drew the card to defeat your so called King of a Higher Plane and reduce your life points to zero." Kyo's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything. "I sacrifice my two Goblin Attack Forces to bring out one of my most powerful fiends! Meet Marju Garzett (?/ 0)! The two groups of goblins disappeared, and were replaced by a new disgusting creature. A gigantic mess of flesh, bone, gristle and hair appeared on Drake's side of the field. It looked like a Summoned Skull with long, purple hair coming down it's back.

"My Marju Garzett's ATK is equal to the combined ATK of the sacrificed monsters. It's attack points are 4600, but I do remember saying that I'd beat you this turn itself!" Kyo gasped. There was only one card in Drake's deck that was capable of such devastation. "I activate Ultimate Offering. This lets me pay 500 life points to summon an extra monster this turn." His life points dropped to 1000. "I sacrifice Marju Garzett to summon his far more powerful counterpart, Great Marju Garzett (0?)!"

The powerful fiend disappeared, and was replaced by another, indescribable new beast. It looked like the body-pars of all living creatures combined to make one walking… thing. "Great Marju Garzett's ATK is double that of the sacrificed monster." Kyo sighed in resignation, as Drake continued, "For a mind-blowing total of 9200! Go, attack his fairy with Curse of the Fiend."

With an unearthly moan, the Great Marju Garzett hurled itself onto the six-winged angel, who tried to defend itself, but was immediately crushed.

(Drake: 1000, Kyo: 0)

Kyo sighed. "Another round to you, Drake." Drake extended a hand as the holograms disappeared and said, "Good match." Kyo was about to shake it, when he glanced into the sky and uttered, "What the hell?"

Immediately after hearing the cry, Kaiba tore off towards the cockpit, leaving a very bewildered Yugi behind. He leaned over and looked out of the window and swore, using words he didn't even know were a part of his vocabulary. For, hovering next to the plane was a large orange dragon. Its wings were flapping slowly, and it looked furious. Any fan of Duel Monsters would recognize it. It was the Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500).

The pilot was new to this job. This was, in fact, the first time he was flying the Kaiba Corp. private jet. It was high paying, $300,000 a year. Heaven knows the pilot needed it. He was originally flew commercial planes, but the stress began to get to him, so he signed up for this job. But gigantic orange dragons attacking the plane weren't exactly part of the job description…. Seto Kaiba was standing behind him, booming out orders.

"Don't you know how to fly this thing? Get it off the damn' autopilot, and full speed towards the nearest landing strip!" The poor pilot was on the verge of losing his wits and muttered, "Sir…, um, dragon ahead of… us?" Kaiba roared in fury and bellowed, "YOU'RE FIRED! GET OFF THIS DAM'N CHAIR AND LET ME FLY THIS THING!" The terrified man nodded meekly and leapt off the chair. Kaiba sat down and gritted his teeth. Time to see if those practice runs with the Blue Eyes White Jet had really paid off. He put on the seat belt and grabbed the joystick. He was just about to accelerate, when he saw what the pilot had said was true. A Tyrant Dragon was staring right at the plane. "HELL!" he roared, but thought, "Marik." How could a hologram be facing them at forty-five thousand feet? The beast roared and spat fired at the jet. It wasn't powerful, but did singe the nose of the plane. Kaiba winced. Definitely not a hologram. He got off and said to the pilot, "Congratulations. You're now officially the pilot of my private jet. Fly this thing out of here." He then tore off, a plan spinning through his mind.

Joey stared out of the window. Somehow, a terrible Black Ptera (1000/1000) was floating outside their window. "What the heck?" he muttered, even as Tea squealed at the creature's disgusting appearance. There was a cry, and he saw a gigantic red beast flying towards them. It was surrounded by smoke. "Damn," muttered Joey. He knew exactly what it was, having faced it in the quarter finals of the tournament he had just won. It was the Ultimate Obedient Fiend (3500/3000).

Chancellor Sheppard was having a heated conversation with his most senior colleague, Dr. Vellian Crowler. "Vellian, listen to me," he said urgently. "That plane is carrying the owner of this school, and is being attacked by a group of monsters twenty-thousand feet above us! We have to do something." Crowler was extremely bewildered, which was unusual for him.

"What can we do, Chancellor?" he said worriedly. "You said I yourself: they're twenty-thousand feet up, and descending fast. They're being attacked by a group of holograms, which is strange, though I don't understand how, but they're too high up." He took a sip of wine. Chancellor sighed and banged fist down on his desk. "Oh I know exactly what to do," said a voice from the door.

Chancellor glanced up to see a tall teenage boy who had short green hair. He was in the Obelisk Blue uniform. "Zane," he said shortly. Normally, he respected the boy, but now he was in a tense situation. "I was passing by in the corridor," he chuckled, "And couldn't help overhearing your conversation."

"What do you think?" said Chancellor. "Well, if you put together all the facts, the solution seems quite easy. All we have to do is fly up there in a helicopter and take out those monsters." "With what?" said Crowler, tentatively. "Well, sir, it's a matter of logic. With our own monsters. There is no possible way that those things are anything other than holograms, meaning someone is controlling them from a nearby location. I can do it myself, or have you forgotten that the only cards that surpass _that_ card belong only to Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba themselves."

Chancellor was stunned. Zane was brilliant, but even Chancellor himself, who was normally an easy-going chap, found it hard to swallow such an idea. "Zane… you do realize that the helicopter is a one-seater, don't you? If you go up there, you're alone." Zane nodded. "Yes. I know how to fly a chopper: don't ask how. I'll summon a few monsters and tear them apart. Then Mr. Kaiba can land his plane on the empty space near the volcano."

Chancellor raised an eyebrow. Why would Zane even care what happened up there? He wasn't obliged to rescue them. As well as that, he didn't have the right to risk one of his student's lives. "I don't think so, Zane," he said quietly. Zane's eyes flared, but didn't say anything. "Why?"

"Well, if you go up there, you're life will be in danger. What if one of those monsters blows you out of the sky? It'll be my fault, as I would be the one who sent you up there."

Zane said calmly, "I'm sorry, sir." "Wha-…" gasped Chancellor, but Zane was already gone. Crowler shrieked and ran after him, but they didn't have a hope. Zane had been known to complete a hundred meters in just eleven seconds.

Kaiba snarled at the oncoming flood of monsters that were effortlessly floating towards them. The plane wasn't fast enough. There was only one option. He clicked on an intercom than connected him to the cockpit. "Slow the plane down as much as you can." He heard a pale 'okay' from the other end. He snarled in anger and put on his Duel Disk. He knew that this would be difficult to pull off, but he would try. The others were busy gaping out of the window and the oncoming monsters. Good. He would deal with this himself.

He was just about to walk off, when he heard a deep voice say, "Stop Kaiba!" Seto didn't even need to turn around to see who it was. "If you're going to fight those monsters," said Yami quietly, "You're not doing it alone. I'm coming with you." Kaiba chuckled mirthlessly. "Fine. But don't get in my way." Joey was about to say something, but Yami said, "No Joey. It's too dangerous. My Puzzle will only be able to protect two people at once. I'm sorry, but you can't come."

Joey sighed anime-style, but said nothing. Kaiba and Yami walked off, both their Duel Disks activated, determined looks on their face. They walked towards the end of the plane, where there was a small trap door. It was located in the area where flight-attendants normally worked on long-haul flights. Kaiba bent down, and it snapped open. He was carrying a wireless intercom, and muttered into it, "Slow the plane down." The pilot had already slowed down to about three hundred miles per hour and had descended to twelve thousand feet. Here at least. The air was breathable.

Kaiba slipped through the trap door and Yami heard a thud as he dropped onto the floor of the area bellow. Yami followed. They were now in the dark tail cone of the plane.

"Kaiba, what's going on?" he said quietly. "Relax, Yugi," he chuckled quietly. He then turned on a light, illuminating the place. It was filled with parachutes. "Lucky for us," Kaiba explained, we've got a very slow tail wind. We can easily open the cone."

He walked over to a small glass box on the wall and protecting his eyes with one hand, smashed the glass with his elbow, revealing a lever. Kaiba pulled it ad suddenly, the back of the cone fell open to the outside air. Yami shivered. As Kaiba said, there was no wind, but coming from a place like Egypt, twelve thousand feet wasn't exactly in his toleration zone. Kaiba ignored the cold and shielding his eyes from the blinding sun, looked out. He activated his Duel Disk, and slapped two cards onto it. He muttered, "If those things are holograms, then we'll use holograms to beat them ourselves."

"Different Dimension Dragon (1200/1500) and Vorse Raider (1900/1200)!" The ogre-like beast armed with an axe appeared in the sky and roared at the army of monsters. A light blue and white dragon then appeared. It had four wings and a long tail, and wasn't a very impressive looking dragon. "Attack now!" he roared. The Vorse Raider readied itself and rushing forward, slashed a bunch of Yata-Garasu's (200/100) to bits. It twirled around and jabbed its weapon into the gut of a Slate Warrior (1900/400), destroying it.

The Different Dimension Dragon opened its mouth and fired a blue blast of energy at a group of Black Ptera's (1000/1000), obliterating them. Another Slate Warrior tried to behead it with it's halberd, but the dragon roared and dodged, and then tore the warrior apart (literally). Yami slapped down three cards on his Duel Disk and said quietly, "King's Knight (1600/1400), Queen's Knight (1500/1600), and Jack's Knight (1900/1000)!" The knights nodded and flew out into the fray, their swords easily slashing apart any opposition.

Marik sneered at the picture hovering in the air. Those poor fools. His Rod did indeed prove to be extremely powerful, letting him create Shadow creatures over a thousand miles away. The Pharaoh's Puzzle was letting his beasts exist in this plane of reality as real monsters, and not holograms, but the idiot was too weak to maintain them for too long. They would give way eventually. He raised an eyebrow as he watched his army destroy the group, combining their powers. The Pharaoh and Kaiba then resorted to summoning their more powerful monsters, i.e. Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850) and the XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2600). The new machines easily annihilated most of his monsters.

Marik grinned. Time to take it up a notch. His Rod glowed and most of the monsters disappeared. Yami was in for the surprise of his life.

Kaiba raised any eyebrow at the disappeared monsters. "What's going on?" he growled. Yami had a bad feeling. "I'm not sure…" Suddenly, they heard a horrible roar from above them. Yami stepped onto the piece of metal that had opened up and looked out. He almost fainted. A gigantic red dragon was above them. It's sinuous form extended to a measurement that seemed to be miles long, and there was obviously more of its body unseen, as part of it was bellow the clouds. The blue jewel on its head seemed to practically pulse with power, and the two immense, teeth-filled maws beneath it were crackling with energy. It's fully extended wings now eclipsed the sky. Lastly, the two, weak-looking claws just beneath its wings were razor-sharp, and looked as ready to reap destruction as the rest of it's arsenal. It was the Egyptian God, Slifer the Sky Dragon.

Yami nearly fell out of the plane. "Marik," he seethed. Kaiba was also shocked. "How do we beat it?" he growled. "We have nothing that even comes close to it." Yami had to agree. Slifer was the second most powerful Egyptian Gods. Only Ra surpassed it. He felt almost sad. Slifer was his first God card, and it was the one he felt most comfortable playing. And now it could destroy him. Kaiba drew a card and muttered, "If I'm going to go out, I'll go out fighting." He slapped the card down and said, "I summon my most powerful monster, the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon (3000/2500)!"

There was a screech and a massive, metallic dragon hurtled out of the sky. It was covered in hard-scales, and had a three pronged crown on its head. It roared at Slifer, who roared back, shaking the dragon to the core. Yami grimaced. The Shining Dragon was powerful, but it's power was dwarfed by Slifer. "I summon my Dark Paladin (2900/2400)!" The armored warrior appeared and raised its scimitar. It was only about ten feet tall, dwarfed by the massive Shining Dragon and the immeasurable God.

All of a sudden, Slifer roared and fired a blast of energy at Yami's monster. Yami gasped, even as the Dark Paladin slashed its staff at the ball. "He can't handle it!" he thought frantically. The blast was too powerful, and progressively pushed it backwards. The Shining Dragon roared and fired it's own blast of energy at the ball. The Dark Paladin let lose of backlash wave of power, and the combined energies of Light pressed back the God's attack, and blew it apart. The Blue Eyes Shining Dragon roared weakly, and the Dark Paladin was gasping with exertion.

Yami and Kaiba went pale. How were they supposed to beat it when its first attack had nearly crushed their most powerful monsters? In the game, its power had been reduced so that it wasn't unfairly powerful, but this was the real monster: an invincible beast. Kaiba snarled and said, "I'll show that overgrown snake which is the most powerful dragon of all! Attack with Shining Neutron Blast!"

The dragon opened it's maw and fired a translucent beam of blue energy at the God. At the same time, the Dark Paladin slashed it's staff downwards, creating a massive flash of power that lanced towards the God, reflecting a thousand faucets of light and color. The two blasts hit Slifer at the same time, and there was an explosion. The influx of light and power was too much of Seto and Yami, and they were blown off there feet. The smoke and dust began to clear. "Is it over?" muttered Kaiba. It was far from that. The warrior and dragon had given it their all, but Slifer was still untouched. In fact, it seemed completely unfazed by the attack.

Yami felt hopeless despair. "It's over…" he thought. "There is no way to win against it." Kaiba had fallen to his knees, unable to take it. He was going to be destroyed. "Kaiba," Yami said slowly. "We have to try. Our monsters are still powerful in their own right. We might be able to do it.

Before Kaiba could answer, there was a metallic screech from beneath them, and Kaiba leaned over and gasped. There was a massive, metallic beast bellow them. It was a large three-headed snake like dragon that had powerful metallic wings and a snake like tail. Each head roared, showing they had no fear. "Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)?" he gasped. "That's probably the most powerful machine monster in the game. It's extremely rare. I don't know who might have it."

The Cyber End Dragon flapped its wings and rose up to their level. Below it, Kaiba could make out a helicopter. It was barely three hundred feet below them, and in the still quiet and tension between the monsters, Kaiba could make out a voice yelling, "Super Strident Blaze!" The three heads each sent out a blast of golden energy at the dragon. The blasts combined, and hurtled towards Slifer.

The God roared and let out blasts of energy from both it's mouths. "it can't do this alone," realized Yami, and said, "Dark Paladin, Dragon Slayer Slash!"

The powerful warrior brought down it's sword and the wave of multi-colored energy hit Slifer's blast.

Kaiba sighed in resignation, and commanded his dragon to attack. It did, and the blasts of the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon, Cyber End Dragon, and Dark Paladin were now pressing against Slifer. The two dragons were flapping their wings, trying to force the God back, and Kaiba could actually make out the sweat pouring down the warrior's brow.

Yami roared in anger and the aura around his Puzzle exploded, empowering all three monsters. They continued their attacks with renewed vigor, but it was too no avail. Slifer was too strong. Suddenly, Slifer roared and opened its mouths to their fullest extent, and the blasts of energy surged out, easily overpowering those of its opponents, hurtling towards them and the plane. At that second, Yami bellowed, "Kuriboh! Defend!" He slapped the card onto his Duel Disk.

A wall of uncountable fur balls appeared in front of Yami, protecting them from the amazingly powerful attack. All the fur balls were incinerated, and the blast just fell short of the three monsters. Yami sighed. "Close call." Kaiba snarled, "In case you haven't noticed, Slifer is till out there. It can still destroy us, and I don't like the idea of being torn apart by a divine wave of energy."

But Yami wasn't listening. "Kaiba," he commanded. "What?"

"We have to unleash _that_." Kaiba's eyes glowed in realization. "No. It's too powerful. We'll all be destroyed." "It's the only option. Either take the chance of being destroyed by it, or be destroyed by Slifer."

Kaiba sighed. "Fine. We'll do it. But I'm not strong enough." "I'll help you. The time is now." Kaiba nodded as Yami's Puzzle began pulsating with golden energy.

Zane couldn't believe what he had just done. He had actually hi-jacked (sort off) the Duel Academy's helicopter to come out and save someone whom he had never met. But at this point, that was the least of his worries. The God card was too powerful, and even his Cyber End Dragon paled in comparison. At that second, he heard two voices yell

simultaneously, "SHINING NOVA ATTACK!"

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

**Yay! Cliffie. Review and I'll update quickly. Lol, just kidding. I'd just like to wish you all a belated Happy Valentines Day. I hope this was long enough for you all. For another thing, REVIEW!**

**P.S. If I've messed up with the time difference between GX! And the original series, sorry about that. In my story, this will be the time difference (about five years from the end of the Millennium World arc). **


	12. In a League of their Own

CHAPTER ELEVEN: In a League of their Own

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.**

**Review time:**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Thanks, man. I thought that some of the GX characters, especially Zane, would make this more interesting. The Sacred Beasts are an idea, although it's not likely as if I want to keep the characters in character, Yami wouldn't use evil monsters.**

Joey gasped as the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon began to glow. "Wait a sec!" he yelled. "It looks exactly like it did when it beat Anubis!" Tristan scratched his chin and said, "What was it called again?"

Tea sighed. "I think it was Shining Nova." Joey nearly fell over. "What's the matter, dude?" asked Tristan. "Thing is," said Joey, "there's a bit of a story behind all this."

Flashback 

_Kaiba stood alone in the wreckage of the Duel Dome, holding one card in his hand. People said that he never expressed emotion in any form, but they were wrong. It was always reflected in his eyes. Right now, his eyes reflected an emotion very unusual for the slick CEO. Fear._

"_Kaiba," said a voice quietly. Kaiba didn't turn around. He knew who it was. "Yugi," he replied. Yami walked forward and said, "So you've decided, have you?" Kaiba nodded. "The Shining Nova Attack of the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon is too powerful. It has to be changed." Yami raised an eyebrow. "That's strange, coming from you."_

_Kaiba shrugged. "It makes the card invincible. No mater what, it can destroy it's opponent. I don't want to use such a card to demonstrate my skills. When I beat you, I want it to be proved that it was my dueling skills, and not the power of the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon, that toppled the King of Games." "There's more to it than that, isn't there?" said Yami simply._

_Kaiba sighed and growled quietly, "Fine. You saw it yourself: the devastation that the Shining Nova can cause. When you used it, you blew up the Duel Dome. What happens if it's used again: in a stadium full of people. I won't have myself held responsible for hundreds of deaths." Yami nodded. "You've made a good choice, Kaiba." The CEO snorted and walked away._

_End Flashback_

"So Kaiba decided to get rid of the Shining Nova Attack?" asked Tea quietly. "Yup," said Joey. "How'd he do that?" asked Tristan. Joey took a deep breath and continued.

Flashback 

_Kaiba stood opposite Pegasus in the latter's private chambers. Pegasus had a card in his hand. He extended it to Kaiba, and the CEO took it. He glanced at it. "So you've done it?" he asked simply. Pegasus nodded. "I did. And I'm glad you made that choice, Kaiba-boy. I'm beginning to regret even printing this card."_

_Kaiba snorted. "Well, you removed the Shining Nova, and that's all you'll ever do. I'm not giving up this monster: not at this point." Pegasus sighed. "It's you choice, Kaiba-boy. Just don't do anything rash." Kaiba scoffed, turned tail and strode away. Pegasus sighed. _

_End Flashback_

"So Kaiba got rid of the Shining Nova?" asked Tea. Joey nodded. "Yuge told me about it when you were visiting New York and Tristan was in L.A." "Hey guy's, look!" Tristan gasped, and they all swerved towards the window.

Kaiba's eyes were glowing as he clenched his fists, sending off large waves of energy to his dragon. Yami was doing the same, his Puzzle glowing. The Blue Eyes Shining Dragon was glowing brilliantly, and was gradually being encased in a ball of light. Slifer roared and fired a blast at it, but it was blocked by the ball encasing it's opponent. Kaiba raised a fist and roared, "PREPARE TO DIE SLIFER! SHINING NOVA ATTACK!"

The dragon screeched and floated over so that it was underneath the dragon's massive head. Slifer roared and was about to spit out a blast at the metallic dragon, but it was cut off by the expanding of the ball. Yami roared, "End it now!"

There was another roar, and the ball exploded. It was by far the biggest explosion during that battle, engulfing the entire God, and was about to hit the plane when Yami yelled, "Big Shield Guardna (100/2600)! Defend with Full Barrier Shield!" The small warrior appeared and raised its shield. When the shockwaves of the explosion were about to hit it, they were blocked by an invisible wall. The Puzzle glowed brightly, indicating that the shield was holding strong.

Zane stared at the light show above him. What the hell was going on? Kaiba's metallic dragon had just exploded in the God card's face, and then everything had been blocked by smoke. He strained his eyes to see through the smoke, but it was impossible. He flew the chopper a little higher, and he could see that the smoke was clearing. He gasped. All monsters had disappeared. Kaiba's tactic had worked.

Kaiba fell to his knees, gasping for air. The destruction of his dragon had taken a heavy toll on his body. Yami hadn't been spared the pain of his Paladin's death. He was bending over as well, clutching his stomach in pain. He heaved himself up and said softly, "It's over Kaiba. We did it."

"Trouble, guys!" yelled Tea. "Wha-..?" began Joey, but stopped when he saw a crack in the wing. "What's going on?" he gasped. "Well it seems that Kaiba's plan didn't work out quite as well as we thought!" The pilot came running towards them. He was in hysterics.

"The wing's breaking!" Tristan yelled back. "We can see that!" The pilot ignored him. "Abandon ship! I mean, abandon jet! Every man for himself!" He tore off through the cabin, waving his arms frantically, only to come running back, followed by an angry Kaiba. "What are you geeks waiting for? The damn' plane is falling apart. If you'll have any desire to continue living, you freaks will follow me." He turned around and stomped off, dragging his feet across the soft carpet, clutching one arm with his hand.

The three friends and crazy pilot followed.

They were now back in the tail-cone. The plane was losing altitude fast. Every one was worried as they threw on their parachutes, and the hysterics of the pilot didn't help matters. "We're dead, we're all dead," he moped pathetically as he slung on the bag. "That's it!" roared Kaiba. "YOU'RE FIRED!" Joey had to grab him from leaping upon the poor man and strangling him.

Kaiba composed himself and muttered, "When we get back to Domino I'm going straight to the Bank of America and taking back the two hundred grand that I paid you for this year of pathetic service." The pilot didn't really care, but instead did his job as a pilot, ahem, ex-pilot, and held up a bag and explained hurriedly, "Listen up. This is your main ripcord," he gestured to a long, orange cord hanging from the bottom of the chute. "When you've cleared the plane, give it a yank. If it doesn't open, pull the cord at the top, which will release the secondary cord."

He finished the explanation, and gestured to them to jump. Tristan walked up first, a confident look on his face. "I've done this before in Hawaii! It's pretty easy! Watch it," he grinned. He walked right to the edge of the ramp and Yami could here him muttering, "Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down…." He looked down. "Ooh!" he yelled. "I looked down!"

Kaiba sighed and walked forward. He rammed his foot into the ramp, shaking it a bit. Tristan yelled as he overbalanced and fell of the edge. He was heard yelling, "Save me Mommy!", as he pulled the cord. Next it was Joey's turn. He decided to keep the nonsense out of it for now, and ran of the ramp, yelling, "Geranomo!" and leapt off the ramp, pulling the cord at the same time. Before Yami, Tea, or Kaiba could say anything, the pilot rushed forward. Unfortunately, the Velcro on his flight-suit caught Tea's ripcord, and pulled it even as he cleared the plane. It caught all the air, and Tea yelled it fright as she threw it off. "Idiot," roared Kaiba. The plane was spiraling downwards now, barely at twelve hundred feet.

They didn't have time. Suddenly, Kaiba said, "You'll have to hang on to one of us." They didn't have to say anything. Kaiba and Tea flushed at the same time. Yami was too small to physically hold Tea. Kaiba growled, "You might want to hold on." Tea blushed instantly but didn't say anything. Normally she wouldn't' have touched the CEO, but considering the circumstances, it would probably be necessary. She held on tightly to his waist, flushing more every second, while he held grabbed onto her shoulders. They leapt off the edge, and Yami heard Tea yell in fright as they plummeted towards the ground.

Even as Yami ran off the edge of the ramp, he could feel Yugi's indignant anger. "Jealous," he mused, as he leapt off the plane, which was barely at five hundred feet now. He noticed a helicopter hovering near them. Yugi answered indignantly as they floated towards the ground, "I am not!" Yami smirked. "Don't worry. Kaiba may be a bit arrogant, but he will always act honorably. I think the whole thing with the Shining Nova proved it." The plane was falling to the ground, as a powerful wind pushed them away from it. "Don't worry, I could tell it was nothing like what you might be thinking. I know for a fact Kaiba has his eyes on someone else." Yami swore to himself, realizing he shouldn't have said this.

"Really? Who?" Yami gulped and said, "Sorry! No time to answer! Just have to steer us away from this plane!" He yelled even as the plane hit the desolate forest with an ear-splitting crash. Luckily, the plane was not at all flammable, as Kaiba had designed it to make it perfectly accident proof, so there was no gigantic explosion.

Five chutes and one crazy pilot floated silently (except for the pilot) to the ground, trying to put their horrible experience behind them. Meanwhile, vehicles that were suited for tough terrain poured out of the Duel Academy. Zane began to lower the chopper.

Two hours later, the five of them (the pilot had set off for the nearest airport) found themselves in the most luxurious rooms in Duel Academy. However, there were only two rooms remaining, meaning that they would have to share. All of them sat in the middle of the larger room. Kaiba was sitting on a chair, wearing a new trench coat that was specifically kept in the Duel Academy for him, in case he ever visited for tours of inspections, and the rest were on the floor. Everyone else were wearing extra Obelisk-Blue uniforms. Yugi had his deck out. "All right. I'll draw five monsters. We'll go in alphabetical order of our first names. The three highest get the larger room and the other two share the smaller one."

He drew. Joey got Kuriboh (300/200), much to his annoyance, Kaiba got Buster Blader (2600/2300), Tea got Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600), Tristan got Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700), and Yugi got the Dark Magician (2500/2100). So it was Tristan and Joey to one room, and Yugi, Tea and Kaiba to the other.

Tristan and Joey flipped a coin. Tristan won, so he got the bed and Joey make did with the couch and a few extra blankets. Kaiba immediately smirked and said, "Well, I'd rather sleep on the side-walk than be on the same bed as any one of you. The couch is mine." He walked off haughtily, leaving Yugi and Tea together. They both dropped their gaze, sweat dropping at the same time.

That night was okay for everyone, except Yugi and Tea, who clung to the edges of the bed, desperately trying to forget the fact that they were sharing a bed with a member of the opposite gender who was more or less of the same age as them. Kaiba was sleeping quietly on the couch, while Tristan and Joey's arguments kept Yugi awake till one a.m.

The next morning, at about ten, everyone except Joey and Tristan were awake. There was a knock on the door. Yugi opened it. Standing there was a tall teenager with green hair. He said quietly. "My name is Zane Truesdale." Yugi gasped. "Weren't you the one who was in the helicopter." Zane nodded emotionlessly. Yugi had already decided that this character was a copy of Kaiba. "Well, we're very grateful to you. Come in! Is there anything we can do to repay you."

Zane shook his head. "You can't. He can." He raised a finger to point at Kaiba who was standing someway inside the room. Kaiba smirked and moved towards them "What do you want?" "I challenge you to a duel."

Five minutes later, they were at the Duel Academy Duel Stadium. All the students had gathered to watch the duel between the Duel Legend Seto Kaiba and the renowned Obelisk Blue wonder, Zane Truesdale. Cyber Dragons against Blue Eyes White Dragons. Brute force against brute force. An interesting battle.

Both of them drew their six cards. Kaiba had of course agreed immediately to the Duel, thinking that he would need some form of pastime while Kaiba Corp. sent over his Blue-Eyes White Jet. Little did he know that it was no small pastime for Zane. It was a life-long dream.

Truth be told, Zane had actually stolen the chopper to help protect the jet so that Kaiba would duel him to repay him. Ever since he heard about Kaiba, ever since he watched him duking it out at the World Championships, Zane had wanted to duel him. At first it was only a dream. Now it was reality.

(Zane: 8000, Kaiba: 8000)

Kaiba said in a bored voice, "Go first."

Zane shrugged and said, "Fine. I summon my Mechanical Chaser (1850/800), in attack mode!" A circular, metal hunter appeared. In two thin arms it held a two swords, and a spear extended from the bottom of it's body. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

Kaiba smirked, "Most impressive, Zane. But not enough. I summon my almighty Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode!" The ogre appeared and slashed it's axe in the air. "Attack his pathetic tin can with Strike of the Wild Beast!" The Vorse Raider rushed forward and slashed at the Mechanical Chaser's torso. "Hold on!" said Zane at once.

"Activate trap card, Sakuretsu Armor." A metal coating surrounded the powerful hunter. "This will destroy your attacking monster, Mr. Kaiba." Seto smirked. "Pretty good, Zane, but not good enough. I activate my quick-play spell card Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy your trap card!" Even as he said this, a cyclone of dust appeared out of nowhere and hit the suit of armor, destroying it.

The Vorse Raider continued on, and slashed Zane's machine, destroying it. "One card face down. I think that's all for now."

(Zane: 7950, Kaiba: 8000)

Zane drew. "I place a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Kaiba drew and smirked. "Meet my X-Head Cannon (1800/1500)!" The blue and yellow robot appeared and gave a mechanical moan. "Vorse Raider, attack his face-down monster!"

Yugi watched the duel with interest. He didn't exactly have anything to do, even with the present situation. From what the teachers had told him, Zane used a machine deck, and like Kaiba used beat down strategies. Kaiba on the other hand, seemed to be waging a full-scale offense. But something about the look on Zane's face wasn't right…. "He Yuge!" said Joey. "You think Kaiba's got a chance?" Yugi shrugged. "We haven't seen much of Zane's strategy yet. Maybe he's just stalling for now."

"Oh I don't think so," said a timid voice behind him. Yugi turned around to see a small, timid looking boy with spiky, aqua hair. He wore a red jacket and pants. Joey raised an eyebrow. "I'm Syrus Truesdale. Zane's my brother. You might be the World Champion, Mr. Moto, but when you're dueling Zane, titles don't mean anything." Yugi smiled. "Firstly, call me Yugi. Mr. Moto makes me sound to old." Syrus nodded timidly. "Okay, Yugi."

"So tell me, why would you say that about your brother?" asked Tea sweetly. "Well, it's not everyday that someone summons a monster with thirty-six thousand attack points," said a voice conversationally. A pretty girl with long, blonde hair and determined eyes came up to them. She wore a blue and purple skirt.

"I'm Alexis Rhodes, also in Obelisk Blue. Seriously, you'll haven't seen Zane duel to his fullest. First there's his deck. The Cyber Dragon cards aren't particularly common, and they're also very powerful. Secondly, no one can wield them more effectively than Zane himself. A Ra Yellow student called Dimitri tried to copy his deck, but the worst student in Slifer Red beat him in three turns. Finally, there are a group of cards from what are known as the Underworld deck. Zane told me about them. They're supposed to be really powerful, and Zane acquired them when he passed out of Duel Academy. But now he's back, taking a new advanced course in Obelisk Blue."

Joey said, "Come again?" Tea shook her head and said, "Ignore him. Are you serious about Zane's dueling skills? I mean, he may have all the powerful cards in the world, but this is Seto Kaiba we're talking about. He's only lost four fair duels in his career, all to Yugi over here."

Another boy joined them. He had thick brown hair, and energetic eyes. He also wore a red jacket. "I'm Jaden Yuki, and I don't want to sound like I'm disagreeing with you'll or anything, but Zane isn't easy to beat." Before anyone could answer, Yugi said, "Hey! I've seen you before!"

Jaden brightened. "Yeah! It was on my first day here! You gave me the Winged Kuriboh (300/200)! I've still go it." He pulled a deck out of his pocket and looked through it, until he found a specific card. He pocketed the deck and showed a card to everyone else. It looked like a Kuriboh with wings on it. Yugi was surprised. "You kept it all that time? I didn't realize it was so special." Jaden shook his head. "Oh no! He's my partner!" Everyone except Yugi sweat-dropped.

Meanwhile the duel was still progressing. It was Kaiba's turn, and he was attacking Zane's facedown card. The Vorse Raider slashed at it, revealing it to be a large, metallic fiend. "It was my Cyber Archfiend (1000/2000), which means it survives your attack!" The fiend slashed at the Vorse Raider, causing a stream of black blood to fall from it's face, and throwing it back. Kaiba growled. "End turn."

(Zane: 7950, Kaiba: 7900)

Zane drew and chuckled. "I activate the powerful continuous magic card, Rise of the Machines! For every turn that I haven't attacked you, I can special summon one machine monster from my graveyard." He smiled slightly, and Kaiba frowned.

"I count two turns, but there is only one monster in my graveyard. So I'll special summon my Mechanical Chaser in defense mode." The monster reappeared, this time with it's swords crossed. "Next I'll sacrifice both of them to summon one of my most powerful monsters, the almighty Mechanical Hound (2800/1500)!" The two monsters disappeared, only to be replaced by a new, large, golden, quadruped machine rose from the ground. The gold-plated machine let out a faux howl, then lowered its head to sweep its gaze over the two much smaller monsters.

Kaiba chuckled. "You're supposed to be Duel Academy's top duelist. How do you expect me to believe that when you summon a monster with only twenty eight hundred attack points and a pathetic fifteen hundred defense points for two tributes?" Zane forced a smile. "That's because it has a certain special ability, but that's not for you to worry about right now." Mechanical Hound, attack Vorse Raider now!"

The powerful quadruped rushed forward and clamped its jaws down onto the demonic warrior's shoulder's, causing it to cry out in pain before it was destroyed. "I'll end my turn."

(Zane: 7950, Kaiba: 7000)

Kaiba drew. "I switch X-Head Cannon to defense mode and also summon Dragon Dwelling in the Cave (1300/2000) in defense mode as well." A large, green, sleepy looking dragon appeared. "One card face down."

Zane drew and said, "I'll now use Rise of the Machines to special summon my Cyber Archfiend once again from the graveyard!" The fiend appeared once again. "Then I'll sacrifice it to summon my almighty Jinzo (2400/1500)!" The Cyber Archfiend disappeared, and was replaced by a new android. It wore grey and green armor, and stared at Kaiba with blank eyes. Kaiba chuckled, "Sorry! I activate Torrential Tribute, which can only be activated when one of us summons a monster. Now all monsters on the field are destroyed!"

A card flipped up, depicting a blast of water falling from the sky. Suddenly, Jinzo fired a blast at the card, shattering it. "Jinzo negates all traps," said Zane, with the slightest notion of a sneer. "But that means your traps are useless too," pointed out Kaiba

Zane shook his head. "Not if I combine Jinzo with this: Amplifier!" As he slid a card into his Duel Disk, a metal ring fell out of the sky onto Jinzo's head. Suddenly, it's ATK shot up to 3200! "What the.."

"Amplifier can only be equipped to Jinzo. It gives it 800 more attack points, and now it'll only negate your traps!" Kaiba swore, using a very un-Kaiba like word. "Next I'll place two cards face down. Jinzo, attack his dragon with Photon Wave!" Jinzo placed it's palms apart, and fired a ball of pure energy at Kaiba's dragon. "Mechanical Hound! Attack his X-Head Cannon!" The hound leapt forward and bit down on the robot, destroying it. "I'll end my turn," he said with a satisfied smirk.

Kaiba drew and chuckled. "My, my, my… All that effort for nothing! I activate Raigeki, to destroy all your monsters!" The lightning bolt fell out of the sky, and was about to hit Zane's field when the Mechanical hound raised its head and roared. The sound waves shattered the oncoming bolt. Kaiba roared, "What's going on?" Zane smirked. "It's simple. As long as there are no cards in my hand, Mechanical Hound negates all magic cards, Mr. Kaiba."

Kaiba frowned and placed a monster in defense mode. He thought, "Not good. Not he's negating both magic and trap cards. I'll have to rely on monster effects only."

Zane drew. "Mechanical Hound! Attack!" Instead of it's usual bite, the hound rushed forward and fired a thin beam of black energy at the hologram of the card, revealing it to be Kaiser Seahorse. "Jinzo, follow it up and attack his life-points directly!" The android emotionlessly hit Kaiba with a blast of energy, nearly knocking him off his feet. "I'll end my turn."

(Zane: 7900, Kaiba: 3800)

Kaiba smirked at his card. "_Just what I needed_." "I herby remove Kaiser Seahorse (1700/1650) and Vorse Raider from play, to summon Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!" Ghostly images of the seahorse and beast-warrior floated out of Kaiba's graveyard, and the massive black dragon with orange hair appeared on the field.

It roared at Zane's monsters. The Mechanical Hound roared back, while the Jinzo didn't do anything.

Zane raised an eyebrow. "Your dragon may be stronger than my hound, but it pales in comparison to Jinzo." Kaiba shook his head in amusement. "Not quite! I activate Chaos Emperor Dragon's special ability! By paying 1000 life-points, I can destroy every card on the field, and we both discard our entire hands! Go, Apocalypse Explosion!"

Zane swore at the Chaos Emperor Dragon roared and began to glow. A vortex of light swirled around it, destroying every card on the field, along with itself. The two duelist's discarded their hands. "What's more, you lose 300 life points for every card that was affected. I count six on the field, and four in my hand, which means you lose 3000 life points!" Zane gasped as a beam of light from Kaiba's Duel Disk hit his chest.

(Zane: 4900, Kaiba: 2800)

Zane drew and said, "I summon a monster in defense mode and end my turn." He thought to himself, "All I need is one good attack with a powerful monster, and I can finish it."

Kaiba smirked and said, "Now to undo the damage done by my dragon! I activate Card of Sanctity, which lets us both draw until we have six cards in our hands." Zane was taken aback. Kaiba must have known that Zane currently had the advantage. Why would he do that? Kaiba drew his card and said, "I'll summon my Enraged Battle Ox (1700/1000), in attack mode!" A minotaur wearing powerful armor and wielding a mighty axe appeared on the field. "Attack his face-down monster!"

The beast swung it's axe and slashed the card in half, revealing it to be Cyber Phoenix (1200/1600). "Enraged battle Ox can do damage through defense, meaning you lose 100 life-points." Zane shrugged. "I end my turn," said Kaiba, smirking.

(Zane: 4800, Kaiba: 2800)

It was Zane's turn. "Face my true power! I summon Cyber Dragon (2100/1600) in attack mode!" Zane held up the card, and there was a flash of light. Behind Zane was a massive beast, at least fifteen feet long. It looked like a metallic snake, with the head of a dragon. It roared at Kaiba. "Twenty-one hundred?!" gasped Kaiba. "Cyber Dragon's effect states that if I have no monsters on the field, and you have at least one, I can special summon it to the field." Kaiba growled.

"Attack his monster with Strident Blaze!" The Cyber Dragon threw it's head back and fired a wave of yellow energy at the Enraged Battle Ox, obliterating it. Zane smirked as his favorite monster roared at his opponent. "I set one card face down and end my turn!"

It was Kaiba's turn once again. He drew and said quietly, "I'm impressed. You've got the upper-hand by 2000 life-points, and you've managed to summon a powerful card. But now…. Things get very different." He held a card up in the air. "I summon Kaibaman (200/700) in attack mode!" A small human appeared. He wore large sunglasses, and was dressed in a suit identical to Seto himself. Everyone in the stadium had to stifle a laugh. Even Zane raised an eyebrow.

Kaiba shook his head. "Kaibaman has powers that you can't hope to comprehend! Allow me to demonstrate! I sacrifice him to special summon my almighty **Blue-Eyes White Dragon **(3000/25000)!" Zane gasped as the Kaibaman disappeared, only to be replaced by a massive, metallic, white dragon. It's scales show and it opened it's wings to show how large it was, even though it dwarfed Zane's dragon anyway. The Cyber Dragon roared at the newcomer to demonstrate it's power, but the Blue-Eyes silenced it with a soft growl.

Kaiba was laughing. "My Blue Eyes has arrived! Which means your dead! Blue-Eyes, attack his pathetic Cyber Dragon with White Lightning!" The Blue-Eyes opened it's mouth and spat a massive burst of energy at the mechanical dragon, crushing it. Zane grimaced as his life-points dropped.

(Zane: 3900, Kaiba: 2800)

Zane drew and said, "I summon a monster in defense mode. That's all I can do for now." Kaiba smirked. "Blue-Eyes, attack his monster with White Lightning!" The Blue-Eyes obliged, destroying the monster to reveal it to be Drillago (1600/1100). "I place one card face down and end my turn."

Zane drew and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face. Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you've realized that it's all futile? I was actually hoping for a good duel." Zane shook his head nonchalantly. "No…. You're about to witness my true strength! I activate Monster Reborn, to revive my Cyber Dragon!" The metallic beast rose once again, and roared at Kaiba, who wasn't impressed. "I crushed that little scrap-heap two turns ago. Why bother bringing it back?"

Kaiba wasn't sure, but he thought that he saw Zane's eyes flare at the words 'scrap-heap'. "Really? Let me show you it's true power! I activate Polymerization, to fuse the Cyber Dragon I have on the field with the two in my hand, to form a beast of such terrible power, that no one has ever defeated it! I summon the Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!!"

Ghostly silhouettes of two Cyber Dragons appeared and merged together with the one on the field in a flash of light. There was a roar, and the light cleared to reveal a new beast. There was the Cyber End Dragon, shining in all it's glory, it's three tails waving about as the three heads roared at Kaiba simultaneously, trying to strike fear in his hearts. Kaiba was shocked. Zane had managed to summon a monster with four thousand attack points?

"Very few people have faced this beast," Zane chuckled. "You are one of the privileged few. Now, Cyber End Dragon, attack with Super Strident Blaze!" The three heads each sent out a blast of golden energy at the dragon. The blasts combined, and hurtled towards Kaiba's dragon. Kaiba reacted quickly. "I activate negate Attack, which immediately ends your battle phase!" A vortex appeared in front of the dragon, and sucked up the Super Strident Blaze.

Zane snarled and said, "Fine. But I still have Main Phase 2! I summon Heavy Mech Platform (500/500), in attack mode!" A piece of steel what simply looked like a platform appeared on the field. "Next I'll activate it's Union ability. Combine with Cyber End Dragon!" The platform creaked and disappeared. Suddenly, the Cyber End Dragon glowed and it's ATK shot up to 4500 and it's DEF to 3300! "When Heavy Mech Platform unions with a machine, that machine gains 500 attack points," he said with a smirk.

Kaiba shrugged and drew. "Now," he said slowly, as a grin spread across his face. "It's time to face my ultimate beast! I activate my own Polymerization to fuse the Blue-Eyes on the field with the two in my hand to summon the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!" The silhouettes of two more Blue Eyes White Dragons appeared next to the one that was on the field. The three roared and disappeared into a vortex. It was then that the ground began to shake. Zane threw his head up to see a giant dragon looming above him. It was a three-headed Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Yugi was stunned. Both Kaiba and Zane had managed to summon their most powerful monsters. These two beasts were both fabled creatures, not only because of their power and also their rarity. The Cyber End Dragon was weaker, but made up with it's ability to deal damage through defense. The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon was all about raw power, plain and simple. But at this point, both had forty-five hundred attack points. It all depended on which one of the duelists had luck on his side.

The two dragons roared angrily at each other, for they seemed to hate each other with all their soul. It wasn't surprising that Zane was glaring at Kaiba was well, who said, "I'll set one card face down and end my turn." Zane drew and said, "Fine, there's nothing I can do. I end my turn."

It was back to Kaiba again. He glanced up at the field, to see that the hundred foot tall dragons were still roaring at each other. The Cyber End Dragon was impatiently waving it's tails, while the Ultimate Dragon was stamping it's feet on the ground. He smiled grimly at his card. "Zane?" he chuckled. "Are you ready to face the true power of my dragon?" "What do you mean?" said Zane uneasily.

"THIS! I equip my dragon with Megamorph, which doubles its attack points when my life-points are lower than yours!" Immediately, the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (9000/3800), seemed to double in size. "End it with Neutron Blast Attack!" The dragon fired three massive blasts of energy from it's mouth. They hurtled towards Zane's dragon.

The machine duelist countered immediately. "I activate my quick-play spell card Limiter Removal, which doubles the ATK of all machines on my field till the end of the turn!" Kaiba gasped as the size of the Cyber End Dragon (9000/3300) exploded and it fired it's powerful blast right back at it's opponent. The two blasts met and their was an explosion. It was powerful enough to knock both duelists of their feet.

When the smoke cleared, no one could believe their eyes. The blasts were gone, but the dragons were still present, roaring at each other. The Cyber End Dragon spat a blast at it's opponent, who smacked it away with it's tail and with a flap of it's wings, rushed forward and bit down on the mechanical monstrosity's middle neck. Zane's dragon roared and slammed it's wing onto it's assailant's back, the sharp scales cutting into it's skin, inciting a roar of pain. The Cyber End Dragon spat a blast once again at the Ultimate Dragon, who flew back and countered with it's own. The two balls collided, dissipating into thin air. The Ultimate Dragon took it's chance and fired an amazing attack at it's opponent, who fired it's Super Strident Blaze back. The two blasts hit again, and this time the explosion was nothing short of nuclear, tearing through both the dragons, obliterating them.

Everyone in the audience was amazed. Zane and Kaiba stood up, gasping for air as the smoke cleared. "What was with the fight?" muttered Joey. Yugi was amazed. "It's seems that the two dragons mirror Kaiba and Zane's wills to win. Neither was willing to let itself get destroyed without a fight."

It was still Kaiba's turn. Although he was amazed by the battle, he tried not to show it. "I summon a monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Zane drew and a dark look came over his face. It was oddly calm, which made it all the more unnerving. "So…." he said quietly. "You think that this duel is over, don't you?" he said with a grin on his face. Kaiba was taken aback, but didn't say anything. "All this time, I'm sure you've been thinking that you've won since you've taken out my best monster." "I have," shot back Kaiba.

"On no you haven't," he said quietly. "You see, Cyber End Dragon was the most powerful monster in my deck. Or should I say, in one part of it?"

"What are you talking about?" said Kaiba impatiently. "I'm saying this: I activate power Bond, to fuse Cyber Dark Keel, Cyber Dark Horn, and Cyber Dark Edge (all 800/800) in my hand to form this! CYBER DARK DRAGON (1000/1000)!"

Alexis gasped. That was the card from the Underworld deck that Zane had used to beat her brother! After all that deck had done to him, why did he still have these cards?

The first silhouette to appear looked like a skeletal, insectoid dragon with an oversized head. This was Cyber Dark Horn. The second had a small, green body, almost like a metallic caterpillar, with a round, gray head. It had huge green wings with large spikes. This was Cyber Dark Edge. The final one was a long, plated, purple snake with a small head. This was Cyber Dark Keel.

They all disappeared. There was a roar and dark energy began to pour in from all directions to constitute a new creature. It had the long purple, plated tail of the Cyber Dark Keel, the gigantic green, spiked wings of Cyber Dark Edge, and the large head of Cyber Dark Horn. It had two spikes coming forth from the side of it's head. Kaiba smirked. "One thousand attack points? That's your ultimate monster? Don't make me laugh."

Zane's eyes were shining. "Oh, I don't think so. Cyberdark Dragon possesses a variety of effects that make him one of the strongest monsters in the game. Firstly, he gains 100 attack points for every monster in my graveyard. Let's see: there's three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600), Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800), Cyber Archfiend (1000/2000), Cyber Phoenix (1200/1600), Jinzo (2400/1500), Mechanical Hound (2800/1500) and Mechanicalchaser (1850/800) and Drillago (1600/1100). That's 1000 extra attack points for my monster."

Kaiba snorted. "Two thousand? I'm not shaking in my shoes." Zane shook his head. "You're forgetting the effect of Power Bond! These 1000 bonus points count as it's original attack points, so it's current ATK of 2000 is doubled!" The Cyberdark Dragon roared loudly as it shone with dark energy. "Which means that it's current ATK is 4000," sneered Zane. Kaiba growled and said nothing.

"However, it has one last ability," Zane chuckled. "What's that?" Kaiba narrowed his eyes.

"I can steal on dragon from either of our graveyards and increase Cyberdark Dragon's ATK by that monster's ATK. I think you can guess my choice." Kaiba gasped as his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon shot out of his graveyard and flew towards Zane's hand. He slotted it into his magic/trap card zone, saying, "It acts as an equip card, increasing my Cyberdark Dragon's ATK by 4500." He smirked as his machine roared, it's power shooting up to 8500.

Kaiba was stunned. Even his Blue Eyes Shining Dragon (3000/2500) paled against such power. "Go, Cyberdark Dragon! Attack his monster with Dark Strident Blaze!" The mechanical monstrosity opened it's mouth and threw a gigantic blast of black energy at Kaiba's monster, revealing it to be a small clown dressed in yellow with a feathered hat. It waved merrily as it was obliterated.

Kaiba grimaced, but said, "It was Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200). When it's destroyed, I can summon another one from my deck." Another clown appeared on the field and stuck it's tongue out at the machine duelist, who growled but said nothing. "Such a nice guy, isn't he?" chuckled Kaiba as Zane ended his turn. However, Zane lost 1900 life-points due to the effect of Power Bond.

(Zane: 2000, Kaiba: 2800)

Kaiba drew and considered his options. Peten would save him for two turns, one if Zane summoned another monster. Finally, he said, "I set one card face down and end my turn."

With a smirk, Zane said, "I summon a second Mechanicalchaser (1850/800)!" The monster appeared and buzzed. "Attack now!" The monster charged forward and slashed the clown in half. It was once again replaced by another clown, much to Zane's anger. "Fine! Cyberdark Dragon, attack with Dark Strident Blaze!" The dragon threw its head back and spat a black ball of energy at Kaiba's monster, obliterating it.

Sweat was pouring down Kaiba's forehead as he drew. He had to make this last draw a good one….. He looked at his card and sighed. Damn. It would be all up to luck now. "I activate Pot of Greed, which let's me draw two cards!" He two three cards and a small grin spread across his face. He said, "I activate Dark Hole, to destroy all monsters on the field!" Even as he said these words, Zane gasped. A massive black vortex appeared out of nowhere and sucked all the monsters on the field into it. Even the mighty Cyberdark Dragon couldn't resist it.

"Next I'll summon Cave Dragon (2000/100)!" A large, green dragon appeared. Zane paled. "Attack his life-points directly," said Kaiba in a bored voice, exactly the same voice that he began the duel with. The dragon let lose a ball of flames at Zane, hitting his chest and causing him to wince.

(Zane: 0, Kaiba: 2800)

Zane's Duel Disk powered down, signifying that he had lost. Kaiba's powered down to, and he smirked as the holograms disappeared and he slipped his cards into his deck. Zane walked up to Kaiba. "That was a very enjoyable duel, Mr. Kaiba," he said in a voice that suggested it was the worst duel ever. Kaiba shrugged and said, "You don't play a bad game yourself, kid."

"It was an honor to duel you," said Zane in a voice that sounded as if he wanted to strangle the CEO. He then walked off. Everyone in the audience was murmuring to one another as they dispersed, until only Jaden, Alexis and Syrus were left along with Yugi and his friends. "What's up with him?" Kaiba asked Alexis.

The girl sighed. "Zane's not used to losing. He's actually lost only one fair duel in his entire career, and it drove him round the bend. The Cyberdark cards really affected his mind. He must have been truly desperate to win if he put them in his deck."

Kaiba sneered, "Well, tell him to get used to it. He was dueling a World Champion: there was no contest."

That night, Kaiba was pounding away furiously on the keys of his laptop. His Blue-Eyes White Jet had arrived at eleven o'clock that same night, but he decided that it was too late for him to leave for New York at that time. He was e-mailing a certain someone, whose identity no one needed to know. But it just so happened that Tea was walking past him and upon glancing at the screen, she yelled, "Hey! What are you doing e-mailing Serenity Wheeler?"

Whew! Seven thousand words! REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

**P.S. I know that I got Cyberdark Dragon's effect wrong. I intentionally did that. Also, the magic card 'Rise of the Machines' belongs to Wolf General.**


	13. Welcome to New York

CHAPTER TWELVE: Dark Alliance

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Otherwise there would be a season six, and no GX.**

**G.O.T. Nick: Thanks for the review. Well, I didn't really have a replacement for Raigeki, and as for Marik's deck, there's a story behind that. Thanks again.**

**Now, the story!**

A slow smirk spread across Marik's as he saw the circle of Rare Hunters and former members of Dartz's organization around him. Besides them were the new recruits, greedy idiots, and fools whose minds were clouded with revenge. His Rod glowed. This meant that Hunter had arrived at last.

Kevin gazed at the starry sky of New York. The large amount of construction equipment was present, but there were no men. And a strip of green tape wasn't going to stop him from entering the place that would grant him victory over Seto Kaiba. He continued on, until he heard a dark chuckle from the recesses off the darkness. He bent under the tape and walked forward. "Whose there?" he asked shakily but firmly. "Kevin Hunter…. Long have I awaited your arrival. I will help you find your true destiny…."

"My destiny?" murmured Kevin, involuntarily taking a step forward. The moment he did this, he realized that he had made a mistake. His foot hit the black ground and continued going, He yelled as he fell through what he now realized was a large hole, unable to do anything. He closed his eyes as he fell endlessly. He resigned himself to the truth: Marik was a sick fiend who simply wanted to trick him into coming here and getting killed. Suddenly, he hit the ground. At least, it seemed like the ground. He felt a soft force holding him above the ground, as it slowly lowered him down. He hit the gravel lightly, and he heaved himself up.

Marik was standing there. "You!" "Me," smirked Marik. "What's the meaning of this? What are we doing underground?!" He looked up, only to see that the hole had disappeared. Relax Kevin, he told himself. This guy had gotten himself in, he would let Kevin get himself out. Not to worry. "So," said another, elegant voice. "You are Kevin Hunter. I have heard about you." The new man was tall, with green, spiked hair. He was dressed in flowing white robes. "I am Dartz."

Kevin grimaced and said nothing. He took a step back, only to bump into another, bulky giant of a man. In panic, he turned to his left, but a slim girl with blonde hair was blocking his way, an emotionless look on his face. He turned to face Marik. "What's going on here," he growled. In response, Marik laughed. In anger, Kevin leapt forward and his fist connected with Marik's jaw. The evil man was taken by surprise, Kevin's punch knocking him back slightly, and a trickle of blood dripped down from his chin.

Dartz quickly drew a sword from what seemed like nowhere, but Kevin was an experienced fighter. He landed on one foot, and twirled around, driving his heel into Dartz's gut, nearly knocking him over. The bulky man rushed forward, and Kevin drove his elbow into his face, causing him to cry out in pain. He made to grab Dartz's sword, but was stopped by the blonde girl. She was holding a sword of her own, and tried to slash his shoulder. Kevin ducked low, and used his foot to grab Dartz's sword. He kicked it towards his hand, but when it hit him, he cried in pain. He fell to the floor, holding his hand.

It was as if a hundred thousand volts of electricity had exploded from the handle, and his hand was burnt badly. Before he could do anything, he saw Marik standing over him, an evil grin on his face. "So you thought that you could get out, did you? Poor, pathetic fool. You don't realize that this is where you belong. We're not so different, you and I. None of us here are different from each other."

Kevin was dimly aware of a group of people closing in on them. Marik raised the Rod. It glowed. Kevin's mind blanked. Automatically, he said, "Yes, Master Marik." He didn't know where the words came from. Certainly not his mind.

"Good. Now that nonsense is over, we can begin," Dartz nodded at the rest of the people, and they formed a circle around the Marik and Dartz. Kevin blankly followed, not knowing what he was doing. Marik's Rod glowed, and a black platform appeared in front of them. On it was a large, black tome. It was almost a foot thick, and the pages were made of yellow, and old parchment. Marik opened to the first page and said, "First things first. I call upon Krieger Koher."

A wiry, German man walked forward. Red hair fell down to his shoulders. In his right hand was a knife. He bowed low to Marik, who gestured to him to rise.

"I, Krieger Koher, doth hereby swear everlasting fealty to my masters Marik and Dartz.. Let this be proof of my loyalty." To Kevin's shock, he raised his dagger and brought it down on his hand. Kevin was unable to close his eyes, but heard the silent cry of pain. To his relief, he had not done any serious damage: a drop of blood hit the paper of the tome, and there was a hiss and a burst of black magic.

Marik rolled his eyes: he never liked these kinds of rituals. He preferred to kill the target's entire family, and then threaten to kill the target himself unless he obeyed Marik's every command. If he didn't agree, Marik killed him. But Dartz had insisted on them swearing a magical oath. The poor fool. Marik knew that he could dispose of him whenever he wanted to. Little did Dartz know, Marik had held back purposely in the their prior Shadow Game between his Divine Serpent and Thenien the Great Sphinx.

The Sphinx was one of the most powerful Shadow creatures ever, and the Atlantian prince's little snake didn't stand a chance. But Marik had been curious about the other man's true strength. The simple fact that he could control a beast like the Orichalcos Demon Dragon was enough to prove that he would be pretty useful against Yami.

Marik was bored out of his mind by the time the last person was being called. Kevin Hunter. Marik was surprised at the strength of his will: the idiot had actually attempted physical combat against them. The Atlantian prince had been forced to control him. Then Dartz's oath would take care of the rest. The blood oath was ancient Atlantian magic, and only the power of the most powerful Millennium Items could break it.

Kevin walked slowly towards the book, his mind screaming at him not to. A dagger appeared in his hand as Dartz smirked. "I, Kev-…" He broke off, struggling against the alien force in his mind. "Damn' you…" he whispered as he yelled in pain. Dartz clamped down on his mind, trying to crush him with the sheer force of his will. Kevin yelled, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Dartz grunted as a wave of invisible mental energy from Kevin threw him back, nearly knocking him off his feet.

He drew his sword angrily. "This boy is too powerful," he said emotionlessly. "he must be killed." He walked over to Kevin, this time clamping down on the poor boy's mind so hard that it was impossible to escape. He snarled, "Say good bye, Hunter!" "Leave him," said a calm voice. Dartz saw Marik tapping his foot on the ground in a bored manner. "What?"

"You said it yourself: he is too powerful. Too powerful to be killed, that is. So take my advice, and don't harm him." Dartz snarled, "I'm not listening to you! He is too strong to live, and I will not let anyone who denies me survive!" Without another word he plunged the sword into Kevin's chest.

At least, he tried to. At that second, Marik raised his Rod and blasted Dartz fifteen feet away, so that his sword had stopped millimeters from Kevin's heart. "I told you to stop," said Marik mildly. "You didn't listen. I blasted you away."

The Atlantian prince was furious. His Orichalcos stone glowed and he yelled, "I do not have to obey you! We are simply working together in destroying the Pharaoh. I am not a lowly servant like these fools around us!" He pointed his sword, at Marik, his voice dripping venom. Marik could tell that his voice also echoed the anger of his Ka, the Divine Serpent.

"Must I defeat you all over again," sighed Marik. Dartz glared, "A rematch?"

"I don't think so. There is no time for us to fight among ourselves, when the Pharaoh and Kaiba are making for this place. Of course, I could defeat them both at the same time, but I wouldn't want to waste my time. Now that the last of our men have been sworn in, we can wait in a place that I've already planned for. This little hole is just temporary."

"So what do you suggest we do with Hunter?" snarled Dartz, sheathing his sword.

"We leave him. As it is, he is not powerful enough to take out the Pharaoh, but his will for revenge against Kaiba will let him defeat that fool, even without being controlled by one of us. All we need to do is give him a few cards that will destroy Kaiba." Dartz sighed and agreed. "Fine. But what cards?"

"Oh, you needn't worry about that. Trust me, I've got cards that when used properly, make Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragons seem completely obsolete. But enough for that."

He turned to the circle of duelists ahead of them and sneered, "Now, it is time! Go out in New York and wait. Wait until the Pharaoh and his little friends arrive. When they come, defeat them in a duel. Do what you please with everyone else, except any Item holders. Take their Items and then kill them. Now go!"

Dartz said, "Wait a minute." He pulled out a bunch of cards from a crevice in his robes. Slowly, he hands one to each of his followers. Each took one and bowed to Dartz upon receiving it, and Dartz nodded to each. They were about to leave, when Marik pointed to the last three. "You three! Wait." He walked over to them and handed them three extra cards. "The three of you are to find the Pharaoh and use these cards to destroy him. I mean it literally. Bring me his Puzzle, and you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams. Fail… and the consequences will be dire."

The three duelists bowed low to him and Marik's Rod glowed. All the duelists except Hunter disappeared. "What's going on here?" he bellowed. Marik smirked. "Nothing at all. You were just behaving a bit badly, so I had to punish you. But don't worry: you have one goal and one goal alone: to defeat Seto Kaiba. I have the cards that will help you do that." He fanned out three cards and handed it to Kevin, who said suspiciously, "What's in it for you? I don't think you'd help me defeat Seto Kaiba from the goodness of your heart."

"True," said Marik thoughtfully. "Actually, you do have to do one little thing for us," said Dartz." He handed Kevin a card. "All you have to do is defeat Kaiba while this card is active. Strengthen your deck, and use this card as well. You _must_ use this card during the duel, or everything will be wasted." Kevin nodded, hardly able to contain himself. "Now you may leave."

Kaiba snapped, "That's none of your business!" He closed the laptop. At last, he tried to. Tea snatched it from him with surprising agility. "Give it back," he snapped, and tried to grab it, but Tea had already begun to read. Her eyes widened. "Is this true?" she gasped, when she finished.

"That's none of your business!" he repeated. "IT IS!" she said sharply. "Serenity's my best friend, and if she happens to be dating you-…." "SHUT UP!" roared Kaiba, and grabbed the laptop. He regained his composure and said snappishly, "If you know about it this far, then I guess I might as well tell you about it." He collapsed on the couch and Tea settled herself on a chair.

"Not a word to the mutt, your boyfriend, or anyone for that matter." Tea blushed slightly at the 'boyfriend' comment, but said nothing. Kaiba began.

Flashback 

_Joey was in L.A., for the North Pacific Regional Tournament. He had wanted to leave Serenity with Yugi, but she had insisted that at nineteen, she was old enough to take care of herself. _

"_I'm telling ya, sis, you'll be fine with Yugi! Ya don't want to be alone, not in this place. All kinds a' creeps are sneaking around here!" For the first time, Serenity had yelled at her brother, saying, "Can you stop it Joey! I'm nineteen now, and I don't think that anyone needs people to take care of them at their age! I'm not your baby sister anymore!" _

_Joey had been struck dumb. He hadn't said another word about it, and hadn't spoken to his sister till he left, when he muttered a quiet, "Goodbye." _

_The first three days had been fine. Nothing had happened at all, with life progressing as usual. If Serenity had trouble with anything, she called Yugi. But then Yugi left for Egypt, and no one was in Domino, not even Tristan, who was on a holiday in Florida, and Duke, who was on a business trip in Tokyo. But it had all been fine. Until one day, when she had returned home from school._

_A couple of creeps had turned up outside her house. "Listen up, little girl," one of them had sneered. "You go in and get me all your money, otherwise-…" He pulled out a gun. "You get me?" Serenity had been too terrified to say anything. Why hadn't she listened to her brother?_

_She didn't do anything. The man sighed and cocked his gun. He was about to fire, when their was a flash, and he collapsed, holding the area between his legs. It was Seto. He had been driving past, when he saw what was going on. As arrogant as he was, he loathed crime. So he decided to do what he could. He had tried to call the police, but they wouldn't be back in time. He had ordered his driver to stop, and the two of them had got out._

_There was a yell of pain, and someone had punched the second goon's head. Both had been knocked out by Seto. Serenity fell to the ground. Seto bent down and asked, "What's the matter?"_

_He then noticed she was clutching her arm. The man's gun had gone off. Kaiba was faced with a choice. He could be his usual cold, self, and call an ambulance, leaving the girl where she was. She was after all, the mutt's sister, and she was a Wheeler. But then again: she was kind of…… well, cute. Hating himself for doing this, Kaiba picked her up bridal style, and placed her in the back seat of his limo._

_She had lost consciousness by the time they had reached the hospital. Kaiba had pulled enough strings to make sure no one knew about this. Serenity's injury wasn't too serious at all, and the doctor's had quickly removed the bullet and cleaned and bandaged the wound, so that she could continue her daily routine by the very next day. Outside of Kaiba, the limo driver, Serenity, two doctor's and a nurse, no one knew what had happened._

_When Mokuba had found out, he had insisted that Serenity stay in the Kaiba mansion for some time. Seto had been unable to resist the puppy-dog eyes. And it was on that fateful night… that it had happened._

_Serenity had just finished using the rest room, and had turned around to go back to her room, when she had bumped straight into Kaiba. Embarrassed, she looked down. "Umm… sorry about that." Seto smirked. As he that perfect that he had this effect on every girl that he met? The only girl that seemed oblivious to his 'perfection' was Tea Gardner, but then again she was brain-dead. _

"_You look like you have something to say." Serenity nodded. Did it really matter that he was her brother's enemy? He was a very nice guy if you got to know him, _very_ good-looking, and SO charming at times. "What is it?"_

"_Thanks for all this. You could have just left me in the hospital. But you brought me to your house. Thank you…… Seto," she said quietly, surprising him by using her first name."_

_End Flashback_

"So," probed Tea. "What happened next?" At this, she couldn't believe Kaiba's reaction. The CEO was actually blushing. "What was it?" she asked again. "WE KISSED!" he yelled so loudly that if the door hadn't been closed, Joey would have heard it and come rushing in. He flushed again and looked away, while Tea began to laugh.

The entire gang stood outside the Duel Academy, where the Blue-Eyes White Jet had been waiting. Kaiba had had a small talk with Sheppard, and had then got into the pilot's seat. There was only one seat next to it, and Kaiba had asked Yugi to sit there, saying he had to speak to him about something. The others would be sitting in the dragon's body.

Kaiba settled in his seat and pulled his seatbelt across his shoulder. Yugi did the same. The CEO started up the engines, and the others, who were in the dragon's body, took it as a sign to do the same. Pushing down on the accelerator, the Blue-Eyes White Jet whizzed through the long runway that was outside Duel Academy. He had specially built it there in case he ever wanted to visit.

Once they were in the air, Kaiba set the co-ordinates for the JFK airport in New York and leaned back on his seat. "What did you want to talk about, Kaiba?" asked Yugi. Seto sighed.

"This is hard for me. But I want to say: all those years ago, things were different. I was only eighteen then; now I'm twenty-three. Things have changed. Changed in such ways that even I can't believe it." "What do you mean?" asked Yugi curiously. "This doesn't leave the cockpit, understand?" growled Kaiba. "Yup."

Finally, Kaiba said, "I can't beat you." Yugi was stunned. "What?"

"I said it: I can't beat you. No matter how many strategies I think up, not matter how many simulations I run, no matter how many powerful cards I acquire, I haven't been able to beat you." He closed his eyes.

"For years I tried to figure out what you had that I didn't. Six times you've beaten me: and I haven't come close to winning. But you taught me something important: I can't always depend on a single set of cards. I have to depend on myself. So I got rid of my old cards except my Blue-Eyes set, and began new strategies. But you still beat me. But you still defeated me. But that wasn't the important thing. Dueling you revived my passion. I'll keep trying over and over to beat you. But not to steal your title. It's to achieve my goal. I know that I won't be able to beat you easily, out of the blue. But who knows, maybe one day I'll do it."

Yugi was stunned. Kaiba was normally not emotional. Slowly, he said, "That's impressive, Kaiba. I'm surprised that you've managed to get over your obsession of using the same strategies to defeat me. I only have one thing to say: you've been a worth rival all these years, and I hope you will continue to be one for the many years to come."

"Trust me, I will."

They soon landed in a smaller section of the runway in JFK, and once they got through customs and got their bags, they piled into a limo to get to the New York Palace, which was the hotel that Kaiba had reserved for them.

As they sat down to dinner that night, Kaiba said quietly, "We'll split up tomorrow. We'll be able to cover more area. Knowing Marik, he'll want to use more important areas like Broadway and the Empire State Building. Mutt, you take Gardner and pencil-head to Fifth Avenue: you three idiots need strength in numbers. Yugi, cover the Broadway area. I'll go to 1st Wall Street. We need to do this fast and decisively. Keep your deck strong."

"Hey," said Joey. "Who said that you're in charge of all this, money-bags!"

"Because, dog," sneered Kaiba. "I'm the one who is paying the bill for this place, and if you have a problem with what I say, you'll be flying back to Domino this night: and I won't be paying for it." Joey huffed moodily and was quiet for the rest of the dinner.

Yugi wasn't sure of something, but he thought that he noticed Tea winking at Kaiba, pointing at Joey, and giggling slightly. The CEO's face contorted, but he said nothing.

That night, Yugi had left the hotel to have a little stroll before bed. He kept his Duel Disk with him, in case any creeps turned up. How right he was. Just before he was about to turn around, a man bumped into him, and he felt him crushing a piece of paper into his hand. He looked at it. It read:

We have Tea Gardner. If you ever want to see her alive, come to the abandoned

warehouse at Sixth Avenue by ten p.m. Come alone, with your Duel Disk.

**Well, it was a cliffie, as usual. I'm sorry that there was no dueling, but there is going to be intense one next chapter. Maybe two. Anyway, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**P.S. My thanks to Princess Yuriana for taking the effort to review each and every chapter. You rock! **


	14. The King of Thieves

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: The King of Thieves

**Disclaimer: I've decided that I'm not going to say this anymore. For the last time, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Period.**

**Princess Yuriana: Thanks a lot. Serenity will definitely be appearing, and yes, she will duel, although everything won't be as it seems…. Mwuahahahahahahaha!!!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Well, I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the review.**

**On with the story!**

Yugi didn't need to read the note a second time. He crammed it into his pocket and looked around for the man. He was nowhere to be seen. Without another word, he ran back into the hotel, and charged up to Tea's room. He banged on the door. There was no answer. He kicked the door. Kaiba was passing by and said, "What are you doing?" Yugi gritted his teeth. "Have you got a key?" The CEO nodded and opened it, still in his gray trench coat. It was empty. At Seto's questioning look, he said quietly, "They've got Tea."

Kaiba didn't need anything else. "Where?" "A warehouse at Sixth Avenue."

Thirty seconds later, the two duelists had left for Sixth Avenue. They decided not to include Joey and Tristan, for as loyal as they were, they could muck things up. Kaiba did something he would never do normally: they used a cab. When they got to the warehouse, Yugi looked at it.

It was located behind a line of shops, and boy did it look abandoned. It looked nearly fifty years old. "They told me to come alone. Stay outside the warehouse and call NYPD. I'll go in and deal with the creeps that took Tea."

Seto nodded. This was Yugi's battle. He knew how the young King of Games felt about Tea Gardner and he would have done the same for Serenity.

Kaiba slipped out of sight, and Yugi walked up to the old rusty door. Not surprisingly, it was unlocked. He kicked open the door and it opened with a painful creak. The warehouse was dark. "Where are you?" said Yugi in a voice that would scare the daylights out of an angry tiger. "Sooooo……, you decided to come, Yugi," said a chilling voice.

There was a flash of light, and Yugi was replaced by Yami, whose eyes were blazing. Even as he did this, the doors closed, and the entire place was lit up by a pair of floodlights so bright that they would have blinded a normal man. Yami saw a wiry, Japanese man. He was dressed in traditional armor, and at his side was a long sword, or katana. It was in a black scabbard. The man's face was smooth, except for the faintest trace of a moustache. He had brown eyes. But Yami wasn't concerned with that. All he was concerned with was the Chaos Duel Disk on the man's arm.

And then Yami noticed the person on the man's side. Tea was tied to a metal pole, with her hair covering her eyes. She wasn't hurt, but she had lost consciousness. Yami automatically took a step forward, when the man said, "I don't think so." He drew his sword and placed it under Tea's throat. "Once step forward…." He chuckled. "Fine," spat Yami. "What do you want?"

"Me? A duel, of course. I see you took my advice and came alone. Good for you. If you win, you get your girlfriend back, and if I win, your Puzzle is mine to give to my Master Marik." He activated his Duel Disk and fired the holographic projectors. Yami gasped. So he had been right. Tea had been kidnapped for Marik's purposes. He snarled and did the same. "You may call me Hitoshi Todaku."

(Todaku: 8000, Yami: 8000)

"As the challenger, I'll make the first move," said Todaku. "I activate Reinforcement of the Army, which lets me add one Level 4 or lower warrior type monster from my deck to my hand." He pulled out his deck, selected a card, and added it to his hand. "Next I'll place a monster in defense mode, and one card face down."

Yami looked at his hand. Not a bad start. But he couldn't let his anger cloud his mind. Otherwise, he was certain to lose. For Marik was no fool. His duelists would be much stronger this time. "All right! I summon the Gemini Elves (1900/900) in attack mode!" A pair of dark elves dressed in blue, appeared on the field. "Attack his face-down monster now!" The elves disappeared, and reappeared above the card.

They were about to stamp down on it, when Todaku yelled, "I activate Negate Attack!" A vortex of swirling air appeared bellow the Gemini Elves, stopping them from attacking. Yami grunted. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

Todaku drew and smirked. "Behold: the first of my nightmarish creatures that will bring about your doom! I sacrifice my face-down monster to summon this: Dark Scorpion- Gorg the Strong (1800/1500)!" The facedown card disappeared, only to be replaced by a hulking man with rippling muscles, a bald head, leather vest, and a scar over his entire face. In his hands he gripped a long handled mace that was exceptionally large, and what seemed to be a small axe blade on one side. The two most startling attributes to this man were first of all that he was blind, hiding behind two squinted eyes. Second, however, was the black tattoo on his right arm in the shape of a scorpion.

"Well, Pharaoh, I don't think it's too late for a history lesson, do you?" chuckled Todaku. Yami growled.

"Thousands of years ago in Egypt, there were a group of ruthless thieves. They called themselves the Dark Scorpions. They never screwed up a job. They were deadly assassins as well, silent killers of the desert who were never caught. They became a massive problem for the Egyptian royals. They were too nimble and strong for ordinary soldiers to tackle. So the Pharaoh sent one of his powerful Guardians to crush them with his Shadow Magic. But their tales lived on…. In fact, there were many tablets unearthed which told tales of their famous heists. In the end, Maximillion Pegasus based a whole set of cards on them."

Yami gasped and realized what was going on. "That means-…"

"That's right, little Pharaoh! The cards that I possess are the very ones that evaded the Pharaoh for decades: five thousand years ago!" Todaku broke into wild laughter as Gorg roared angrily.

Yami frowned and said. "Fine. Just continue your move."

"With pleasure! I equip Gorg with Lightning-Blade, increasing his ATK by 800!" A glowing sword appeared in Gorg's hand, and he grasped it with a knowing smirk (2600/1500). "Finally, I'll activate the field magic card of your doom: the Seal of Orichalcos!"

Yami almost fainted. He had been expecting this, but it was still shocking. For the Orichalcos was a terrible force….one that even Yami couldn't resist. It was the only thing that he truly feared and hated… Although he knew it was useless, he yelled out, "Don't play that card! The consequences will be terrible! DON'T DO IT!"

"Too late, Yami!" snarled Todaku, and inserted the card into the field-card slot of his Duel Disk. The usual six pointed star formation then formed on the, surrounded by a circle. The lines glowed green. An aura of green energy floated above the edge of the circle.

Yami snarled and said, "Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"

"Yes! I've brought about your doom! Gorg (2600 + 500 3100/1500), attack his Gemini Elves with Silent Axe of Death!" Gorg raised the Lightning Blade, as well as his axe, and brought them both down on the ground at the same time. A massive wave of energy flew across the Seal, directly towards the Gemini Elves. At that moment, he yelled, "I won't let you do that! I activate Magical Cylinder, negating your attack and reducing your life-points by your monster's ATK!"

Two purple, hollow cylinders appeared. The wave of energy was absorbed into one, and seemingly disappeared. But the other one then fired a blast of yellow energy at Todaku. It hit his chest, knocking him off his feet.

(Todaku: 4800, Yami: 8000)

Todaku got to his feet. Yami noticed that the upper layer of his armor had been burnt off. He forced a smirk and said, "Fine. You saved yourself for one turn. That's all. I end my turn."

Yami drew and glanced at his hand. Todaku's Dark Scorpion had over three thousand attack points. Only one card in his deck could surpass it, and he couldn't summon it. He would have to wait for monster removal cards, and play it defensively until then. "I place a monster in defense mode and switch the Gemini Elves to defense mode as well. I end my turn."

Todaku drew and said, "I summon Dark Scorpion-Meanea the Thorn (1000 + 500 1500/1800)!" A woman with a rose-tipped thorny whip appeared. She too had the tattoo of a black scorpion. The Orichalcos symbol glowed on her foreheard. "Meanea, attack his face-down monster with Rose-Moon Slash!"

Meanea raised her whip and slashed it through the air. It hit the face-down card, flipping it up. It was a large, wooden wall, with the sour-face of a person with long red hair. "My Wall of Illusion (1000/1850) can withstand your attack. What's more, the monster that attacks it is returned to your hand." Todaku grimaced as the face opened it's mouth to reveal massive, fang-like teeth, and bit down on the whip. It sent a shockwave through the whip, electrocuting Meanea, and causing her to disappear.

"Fine," snarled Todaku. "Gorg, attack his Gemini Elves!" This time, Gorg lifted his axe and with one hefty stroke of his arm it was flying through the air, and had sliced the two elves in half. They screamed in pain and disappeared. "I end my turn."

(Todaku: 4450, Yami: 8000)

It was Yami's turn. He drew, and thought, "I don't have a choice at this point. I have to play it defensively." "I place a monster in defense mode, and set one card face down. End turn."

Todaku growled. "I summon Dark Scorpion- Zantor the Vicious (1500 + 500 2000/500), in attack mode!" An undead, warrior thief appeared. He had shriveled, gray skin, with yellow teeth. Red eyes shone through slits in his face, and he carried a long, katana. Todaku smirked. "Zantor is one of the most powerful Dark Scorpions! I'll show you why. Gorg, attack his monster!"

The thief once again threw his axe through the air. Yami's monster appeared, revealing it to be a fiendish, orange monster with green limbs. It was easily destroyed. "Sangan (1000/600) lets me add a monster with 1500 or less attack points from my deck to my hand. And I choose Witch of Black Forest (1100/1200)!"

Todaku shrugged. "Fine. Zantor, attack his life-points directly!" The zombie thief disappeared, and appeared behind the ancient Pharaoh. "What th-…." began Yami, but Zantor thrust his blade into Yami's back at that moment.

Yami screamed in pain, falling to his knees. It was unbearable. His arms flailed as Todaku laughed ruthlessly. Zantor raised his blade again, as if to kill Yami, but at that second the Puzzle activated, and a golden shield appeared around him. Zantor's blade hit it, but it held fast. Try as he might, the thief couldn't pierce it. Yami's rage took over and he stood up, his eyes blazing. He turned around to face Zantor, and snarled, "So you want to fight me?!" He fired a massive blast from his Puzzle at the monster. Todaku yelled in

protest and fear.

Yami's attack had reduced Zantor to what looked like a mountain of bones covered by skin. His armor had been reduced to ribbons, and his sword was broken. Normally, anyone would have been slayed by a blast like that, but the fact remained that Zantor was still a monster, and couldn't be destroyed by anything but another monster or a card effect.

(Todaku: 4450, Yami: 6000)

"Fine," snorted the Japanese duelist. "Zantor's effect still activates. For every thousand life-points you lost due to his attack, I can discard one card from your deck. You lost 2000, so say goodbye to two random cards!" Yami gasped as two cards sprouted out of his deck. He pulled them out, and was relieved to see that they weren't too powerful. He slid the Beast of Gilfer (2200/2500) and Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700), into his graveyard.

Todaku smirked. "End turn."

Yami said, "I activate Pot of Greed, to draw two cards from my deck." He looked at his hand. "Now I can special summon Watapon (200/300), in defense mode!" A tiny fur ball appeared on the field. It was even smaller than a Kuriboh, and was pink with two long feelers. "Watapon's effect states that if it came to my hand because of a card effect, it's special summoned to the field." The fur ball purred, as if to agree with it's master.

"Next I place a monster in defense mode, and one card face down. I end my turn!"

Todaku drew. "I've seriously had enough of this playing around! It's time to show you the true power of the Dark Scorpions!" He held a card up. "Prepare to meet the leader of the Dark Scorpions, the King of Thieves! I summon Don Zaloog (1400 + 500 1900/1200)!"

A man appeared, an eye patch in place, a row of bullets strapped to his chest, a six-shot pistol on each hip, and a sword clutched in each hand. The other two Dark Scorpions, although more powerful, seemed to look at him in awe as he glared hungrily at Yami, who didn't say anything.

"Next I'll activate Mustering of the Dark Scorpions, which can only be activated when I have Don Zaloog on the field. I can now special summon a Dark Scorpion from my hand. Say hell to Dark Scorpion –Meanea the Thorn (1000 + 500 1500/1800) again!" The whip wielding, female thief reappeared and smirked at Yami, who raised an eyebrow. "Impressive. You've managed to summon an army of Dark Scorpions, but I have a feeling they're not going to help you."

"Really?" said Todaku with a knowing grin. "I activate my powerful magic card, Allied Forces! As long as this card is active, all warriors gain 200 attack points for every warrior on the field. All my monsters now gain 800 attack points." Yami gasped as Gorg (3900/1500), Meanea (2300/1800), Don Zaloog (2700/1200) and Zantor (2800/500) all grew much stronger. The Seal shown even brighter on Todaku's forehead as he declared Meanea's attack on Watapon. It threw it's whip through the air, which hit the tiny fur ball and destroyed it.

"Don Zaloog," declared Todaku triumphantly. "Attack his face-down monster with Life-Robber!" The king of thieves lifted his sword and flung it at Yami's face-down monster. There was a flash, and an elven swordsman appeared, clad in green armor. It raised it's sword, and blocked the oncoming attack. "Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) can't be destroyed by a monster with over 1900 attack points." Todaku almost screamed with frustration. Here he was, powering up his monsters o that the weakest was tremendously powerful, and this Pharaoh went and took advantage of that? That freak had some nerve!

"Fine. For my Main Phase 2, I'll place one card face down. End turn."

Yami drew. "There's nothing I can do. I end my turn."

Todaku calmed himself and tried to reason out the situation. His deck had plenty of monster removal. Until then, he would strengthen his army. "I summon Dark-Scorpion Chick the Yellow (1000 + 500 1500/1000) in attack mode." A young man appeared. He had blonde hair and was dressed in gray and red. He carried a broom.

"Now I activate my face-down card, Ultimate Offering! By paying 500 life-points, I can summon one additional monster! But first I'll play Card of Demise, which lets me draw until I have five cards in my hand. However, I must discard my hand in five turns. But let's forget that kind of unpleasantness, and instead I'll introduce you to a few more of my friends. Meet Cliff the Trap Remover (1200 + 500 1700/1000), and Dark Scorpion- Firyan the Silent (1800 + 500 2300/200)!" A new, bespectacled thief wielding a knife, and a black-cloaked, masked man appeared.

"Wait!" said Yami. "How can you have seven monsters in play at the same time?"

"Have you forgotten the effect of the Seal of Orichalcos, Yami?" smirked Todaku. "It doubles my monster zone!" For the first time, Yami noticed five slits on the front side of the Chaos Duel Disk, similar to the slits for magic and trap cards.

"Don't forget Allied Forces! All my Dark-Scorpions have their ATK increased by 1400!" Gorg (4500/1500), Don Zaloog (3300/1200), Meanea (2900/1800), Zantor (3400/500), Chick (2900/1000), Cliff (3200/1000), and Firyan (3700/200) were more powerful than ever. "Now I'll activate Firyan's special ability. By paying 1000 life-points, I can discard as many cards from your deck as the number of Dark Scorpions on the field!" Yami gasped as Todaku winced from the loss of life-points, but seven cards sprouted out of Yami's deck. Sadly, he sent them to the graveyard. Todaku smirked. "I end my turn."

(Todaku: 2450, Yami: 6000)

Yami drew and said. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy Lightning Blade!" A whirling tornado destroyed the blade. "That weakens his strongest monster…." thought Yami. (Gorg: 3700/1500) "I end my turn."

Todaku drew, his eyes blazing with anticipation. "I summon Dark Scorpion- Cantar the Subtle (1500 + 500 2000/1500) in attack mode." A new thief appeared, with long white hair. In one hand he held a revolver, and a glass of red wine in the other. He wore yellow armor.

"First, my monsters are strengthened." All eight monsters now had over 3000 attack points. "Then I'll activate Cantar's ability. I can discard one card from your hand. If it's a monster, you discard cards from your deck equal to the number of stars that the monster has!" Cantar raised his gun and with impossible accuracy fired a bullet at one of the cards in Yami's hand. "You sent Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600) to the graveyard," said Yami quietly.

"Which means you lose four cards….." he chuckled.

Yami had had enough. He discarded four cards and looked at Todaku with a look that would kill a normal man. "You…. are… pathetic," he said, his voice dripping with venom. The thief-duelist's eyes flashed.

"You use these Dark Scorpions to defeat your opponents, but for what?! For some promise of power from Marik? Or perhaps Dartz told you about Paradise? Or maybe you're just being controlled, and you're TOO WEAK TO RESIST IT! I WILL DEFEAT YOU AND THEN YOU CAN ROT IN HELL AND WAIT FOR YOUR _MASTER MARIK _TO JOIN YOU WHEN I'M DONE WITH HIM!!!" Yami hadn't intended to be so forceful, but he couldn't help it. All his frustration from the past few days had been let out right there and then.

Todaku, who had been trembling with rage during Yami's rant, screamed back at Yami's last sentence. "DO NOT SPEAK OF HELL IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HELL!!!! YOU WISH TO KNOW WHY I FIGHT FOR MARIK?! FINE! I WILL TELL YOU!"

He calmed down, but his eyes were still burning with hatred. "Ten years ago, I was the king of thieves myself. I would pull off impossible robberies! All over Japan I was feared and admired. I was nigh unmatchable…." He broke off. "And then I was captured. It was the biggest impossibility ever, but I was captured. I managed to escape, but the blow to my honor as a thief was to big…" He trailed off, silent, but Yami could see the fury in his eyes.

"For ten years I have tried to get my revenge, but I couldn't. Then I met Marik…"

His eyes glowed. "Marik told me that if I helped him, he would not only kill the judge that sentenced me to prison, but the entire police force as well. Then I could be once again known as the King of Thieves….." He snarled again, his soft demeanor disappearing. "And now I will regain my honor by defeating you. I will activate Ultimate Offering again, summoning anther Dark Scorpion- Zantor the Vicious (1500 + 500 2000/500) as well as another Cliff the Trap Remover (1200 + 500 1700/1000)!" The undead and bespectacled thief appeared as well.

"Now I have ten Dark Scorpions in play, so you will soon lose either due to their amazing attack points, or their discard effects! I'll also activate Card of Sanctity, so that we both draw until we have six cards in our hand."

Both players did so. Todaku looked at his hand and smirked. "I activate two more Allied Forces! Now all my monsters gain 600 attack points for every warrior on the field, which means each Dark Scorpion gains 6000 attack points!" Even though his Celtic Guardian would protect him, Yami gasped, falling to his knees, amazed by the strength before him.

Gorg (8300/1500) Don Zaloog (7900/1200), the two Zantor's (8000/500), the two Cliff's (7700/1000), Cantar (8000/1500), Meanea (7500/1800), Chick (7500/1000), and Firyan (8300/200) all seemingly doubled in size, their strength now exceeding the strongest dragons and the Egyptian God cards. Yami blanched at their strength. "All I have to do is draw one monster removal card, and my thieves will annihilate you. End turn."

It was back to Yami. His facedown card was Wabuko, and if Todaku destroyed his Celtic Guardian, it would save him for a single turn. But after that…. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Todaku drew and said, "I the powerful trap card, Mustering of the Dark Scorpions! When I have five Dark Scorpions on the field, namely Don Zaloog, Gorg, Meanea, Chick, and Cliff, they can all attack your life-points directly!" Yami gasped. "_It can't end now…"_

"Unfortunately, their attack points are reduced to 400 till the end of the turn. But no matter. Go my five Dark Scorpions, attack!" The five monsters all attacked Yami with their weapons at the same time. Normally, an attack like that would have killed him, but the monsters had been tremendously weakened, so he was able to survive it.

(Todaku: 1450, Yami: 4000)

Yami still had nearly thrice the amount of life-points that Todaku did, but Todaku had his army of monsters with more than 7000 attack points each. All Yami had was his Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. He drew and sighed. There was nothing he could do. "End turn."

Todaku drew and grinned maniacally. His Dark Scorpions would kill the Pharaoh, what with the card he had drawn. But first…. "I activate United We Stand. This will give the equipped monster 800 attack points for every monster on my side of the field. My choice is Don Zaloog!" The king of thieves flashed with energy that not even the Gods could match, as Yami simply looked on in terror (15900/9200).

"Finally I'll play this: Tribute to the Doomed." Yami's heart skipped a beat. No, it skipped five beats. "By discarding a card from my hand, you can say goodbye to a single monster on your field." With a sick smirk, he pointed at the exploding Obnoxious Celtic Guardian.

"Now that your life-points are wide open, you're screwed. What with the power of my monsters, the Orichalcos won't be able to take your soul: you'll be dead!" He laughed sardonically, and regaining his composure, said, "Go, my Dark Scorpions, attack with him together!" The army of monsters, with a combined total ATK of over eighty thousand, all yelled in sick jubilation. They then all ran at Yami at the same time, there weapons waving.

Yami eyed his hand and thought to himself, "_There's only one move that can save me now…… If Todaku counters it, I'm doomed." _

He looked up and said confidently, "I activate-…"

Kaiba glanced over the bush. Yugi had been gone for quite some time now. But he didn't have to worry. That guy could handle himself. He had already called NYPD, and when they had realized that Seto Kaiba was calling, they had sent a SWAT team to the area. There was no fancy yelling of 'Move, move, move,' or any firing this time. They silently piled out of the van and hid among the bushes, their guns at the ready. Kaiba had told them that the men inside were fanatics, and after Seto had had a small 'chat' with their leader, their orders were to kill anyone who came out except Yugi Moto and a female brunette.

Kaiba disliked taking life, and was as disgusted with this operation as he was with himself for letting his brother be kidnapped. But these people were psychotic, and needed to be dealt with immediately. He had a gun's license himself, and kept a very small, unnoticeable revolver with him at all times, as with his position and social status made sure that he was guaranteed to be on the assassination list of several unpleasant people whom the young CEO had no wish to meet.

His muscles tensed as he glanced at the door. Damn, this was going to be a long night.

**Whew! Three milestones here: 100 pages for my story, over 1000 reads, and 50,000 words! I think I owe a big thank-you to all my readers out there. Go ahead and give yourself a round of applause, you deserve it! Anyway, thanks again, lol.**

**So now what will happen. Will Todaku crush Yami with his army of Dark Scorpions, or will Yami use his facedown cards to defeat the King of Thieves. Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh: Advent of Power!**

**Original Cards (There weren't enough Dark Scorpions, lol)**

**Dark Scorpion- Zantor the Vicious, Dark Scorpion- Firyan the Silent and Dark Scorpion- Cantar the Subtle**.


	15. The Happy Couple

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: The Happy Couple

Hey again. Hope this chapter is enough for you, cuz I probably won't be able to update for some time. 

Metal Overlord 2.0.: Thanks a lot, man. You're right about Marik and Dartz. Expect to see some crazy attack points in later duels…. As if 15900 wasn't crazy enough.

**Princess Yuriana: Thanks. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's actually Yugi/Tea. I always liked that better than Yami/Tea. In fact, Seto/Tea's the best, but it wouldn't fit in with this storyline.**

**On with the story! (If anyone thinks I need a new catchphrase; tell me).**

"I activate Dust Tornado!" thundered Yami. His facedown trap card flipped up. He pointed at Todaku's field, and the cyclone crashed into the thief's only magic or trap card: Ultimate Offering.

"That won't help you!" bellowed Todaku.

Don Zaloog was the closest to Yami, and was about to swing at him when he said, "I activate the second effect of Dust Tornado, allowing me to se one magic or trap card. I'll set it, and since it's a trap card, I'll activate it! My own Ultimate Offering! I'll pay 500 life-points to set this monster in defense mode."

Even as he set his card, Don Zaloog slashed the hologram as soon as it appeared, revealing it to be a woman with long, purple hair. "Witch of Black Forest (1100/1200) lets me add one monster with 1500 or less defense points from my deck to my hand. I choose Magical Scientest (300/300)!"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER," Todaku laughed madly. Gorg was almost upon Yami, ready to slash him in half when Yami bellowed, "Hold on! I activate Wabuko, saving me from all life-point damage this turn!" Three robed mages appeared on the field, and were just able to block Gorg's attack. Todaku howled in rage, "END TURN!!!"

Yami smirked as he drew. The fool didn't realize that the duel was already over.

Joey woke up groggily. Hell, why did his cell phone have to ring at eleven o'clock at night, when he was suffering from three hours worth of jet lag? He groped around on the bedside table, grabbed it, and muttered, "Hold on, hold on…." As he answered the call.

"Whose speaking?" he murmured sleepily. When he heard the other person's voice, he jumped up immediately. "'Ren?" he almost yelled. The answer, which happened to be 'yes', was a little louder and clearer than he had expected. And it was then that he realized what kind of jokes Serenity liked to play. Fearfully, praying he was wrong, he tiptoed out of bed, and opened the door. He screamed.

(Todaku: 1450, Yami: 3000)

"Make your pathetic move, Pharaoh, so that my army can incinerate you!" wheezed Todaku. Yami shook his head. "Fine then, I will! I summon Magical Scientest (300/300) in attack mode!" A bald old man in a lab coat emerged on his side of the field, smirking.

"What's that little piece of filth?" sneered the thief. Yami ignored him and said, "Now, I'll use Magical Scientist's effect! By paying 1000 of my life points, I can Special Summon one level six or lower Fusion monster from my Fusion deck for this turn. But this one turn is all I'll need to bring forth my Dark Flare Knight (ATK 2200, DEF 800)!" And as he finished speaking, a warrior wearing dark robes and carrying a huge black shield and a flaming saber appeared.

(Todaku: 1450, Yami: 2000)

Todaku smirked mockingly. "You poor fool: you're supposed to be an undefeatable strategist and yet you don't realize that you're knight is five thousand points weaker than my weakest Dark Scorpion!" Yami narrowed his eyes and said, "Watch me."

"You can't be seriously-…." Todaku sneered, but hen he saw the look on Yami's face. "Dark Flare Knight, attack Don Zaloog with Dark Flare Slash!" The knight bravely charged into battle, and swung his sword, generating a wave of fire that flew toward the King of Thieves, who slashed his sword downward, with a wave of energy cutting through the fire and destroying the Dark Flare Knight.

"So much for your pathetic excuse for a knight," smirked Todaku. Then he noticed Yami's life-point counter. "WHAT?!" Yami smirked. "How can your life-points be untouched?!"

"Because," said the Pharaoh. "When my Dark Flare Knight is destroyed in battle, I lose no life-points due to his destruction. And when he is destroyed in this way, it becomes possible for his much stronger form to come to the field, either from my hand or my deck…and this time…" Todaku continued to snarl as Yami searched his deck for another card. "Come forth: **_Mirage Knight_** (2800/2000)!!!"

There was a flare of light, and the thief king couldn't see anything. He covered his eyes with his arm, trying to protect himself from the blinding light. Then the light subsided, so Todaku could have a better view of the field—and his jaw dropped. Right there, on Yami's side of the field, stood a blue-haired warrior wearing a suit of pure white armor. In one hand he held a scythe, the blade of which was pure silver and beautifully decorated and forged.

"Meet the Mirage Knight, which is summoned to the field when Dark Flare Knight is destroyed." The Magical Scientest looked at the magnificent warrior quizzically, as the latter hefted his scythe upwards.

"Now, for your doom! Mirage Knight, attack his Don Zaloog with Illusion Nova!" The Mirage Knight nodded and rushed forward, it's scythe flashing. Suddenly, it seemed to split into six different carbon copies of itself, all surrounding Don Zaloog. The thief king slashed five apart, when the final one rushed forward and slashed. "When Mirage Knight does battle with a monster, his ATK is increased by an amount equal to that monster's ATK," said Yami quietly. The Mirage Knight (18700/2000) buried his scythe in Don Zaloog's side, even as Todaku howled in rage.

"Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Todaku as his various monsters disappeared. "I am the ultimate thief duelist! How can I lose……." Yami shook his head mercilessly and yelled, "Next time, use your skills for good instead of evil!", as the Seal closed in on Todaku. Even as Yami watched this, he couldn't help feeling a twinge of sadness for the man as he screamed in pain, trying to fight the power of the Seal. But it was to no avail. He collapsed to the floor, soulless.

He smiled his thanks to the Mirage Knight and Magical Scientest, who both nodded and disappeared. Exhausted, he trekked over to where Tea was tied up and knelt down beside her. He checked her pulse and was relieved to see that it was normal. She was however, unconscious, although he wasn't hurt. He tried to untie the ropes, but they were too tight.

So Yami used his last reserves of energy to use a thin beam from the Millennium Puzzle to burn the ropes.

"_Yugi…… I'm exhausted. I can't take this much longer._" Yugi replied, "_It's fine. Let me take over. You can rest_."

"SERENITY?!" yelled Joey in shock. The red haired teenager giggled. "Hey Joey." Joey lost it. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" "Listen, Joey, calm down, I can explain it yo-….." "EXPLAIN? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I SPECIFICALLY TOLD YOU THAT I WOULD BE GONE FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS, AND YOU WEREN'T TO EVEN TRY AND COME OUT HERE!"

"_Can you listen to me_," said the normally calm girl, with a voice of venom. Joey gulped. Serenity had only used that voice twice before, and both times had been….. unpleasant. "Um…. Yes?"

"Good," said Serenity, calming down. "As I was saying-….."

Before she could continue, there was a heave of exertion from down the corridor. Joey took a step forward to see Yugi carrying an unconscious Tea, along with Kaiba. Both looked pretty….well, unpleasant.

"Ummm…. Yuge? What's going on?" said Joey scratching his head. Before anyone could say anything, Serenity had cried happily, "Seto!" Before anyone could react, she had run forward and hugged the CEO tightly. At that second, all hell (i.e. Joey Wheeler) broke lose.

Three hours and eighteen of Joey's tantrums later, Serenity, Seto, Yugi, Joey, and a now conscious Tea were sitting around the coffee table in Kaiba's room. When Joey had seen his sister hugging Tea, he had fainted. Tea had woken, and had took the opportunity to tell everyone how she had wanted some Baskin Robbins, and had walked two blocks to get there. On the way back, she had felt someone throw a bag over her head. Her assailant was too strong, and had injected something into her, knocking her out. Next thing she knew, she had woken up in Seto's room in the New York Palace. She had woken up slightly hysterical, but had soon calmed down.

Yugi and Seto then told everyone what had happened, about how they had gone to the warehouse. Seto had called NYPD, and Yugi had defeated Todaku in a duel. NYPD had been able to hush the whole thing up. On the way to the hotel, they had gone to a doctor whom Seto knew in New York. He told the CEO and King of Games that Tea would be fine. The drug that had been injected into her was a regular sedative used in hospitals, and would wear off in a couple of hours. Seto had made sure that no one else knew about this.

And then it was Serenity's turn. She told them that she had been attacked by a couple of people whom she recognized. They were Marik's thugs. A couple of cops had been passing, and rescued her. Oddly enough, the moment they entered police custody, they seemed to go into a coma. Serenity couldn't go to anyone in Domino, so she had called the only person she could think of. Seto. He knew that his well, _girlfriend_ wouldn't be safe in Domino, so a Kaiba Corp. plane had picked her up and brought her to New York.

They had filled Yugi in about their well, _relationship_, and he only seemed mildly bemused at what would happen when Joey found out. He didn't have to wait long. The Brooklyn duelist came too, and here they were trying to calm him down and explain it to him.

"THREE BILLION MEN IN THE WORLD,'REN, AND YOU HAD TO DECIDE TO GO OUT WITH SETO KAIBA! WHAT DO YOU SEE IN HIM? HE'S SNOBBISH, IDIOTIC-…." Seto cut him off coldly. "How about, handsome, rich, and let's see: ooh, I have a brain. Unlike someone I could mention," he smirked. To aggravate Joey even more, he put an arm around Serenity's shoulders.

"Get your hands of my sister, Kaiba!" Joey was about to leap across the table, but Yugi and Tea caught him. "Joey," Yugi tried to reason with him. "Serenity's nineteen now. She can make her own decisions. I mean, if she wants to be with Kaiba, let her, as long as he doesn't hurt her."

Joey didn't look ready to listen, but Serenity gave him such an unnerving look that even Seto was surprised. Finally, Joey sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets. He muttered, "Fine."

Seto chuckled. He had heard the mutt perfectly, but wanted to prolong his agony. "I can't hear you????" he smirked. "Fine," Joey muttered again.

Seto turned to Serenity. "What did the mutt say? I think he said, 'fine'." Joey roared. "That's it Kaiba!"

He leapt across the table and was about to punch Kaiba when Serenity stepped between them and gave Joey another unnerving look. He quietened down immediately, and muttered, "G' night." With that he went back to his room, leaving everyone in silence.

"Well?" said Seto, with a small smile on his face. Not a smirk, not a taunting grin, a real smile. "Aren't you going to kiss me?"

Serenity happily flung her arms around Seto's neck and kissed him.

Tea looked at them and Yugi and grinned. The latter blushed, muttered, "Good night" and left the room.

It was the next morning, and Seto seemed particularly happy. When Tristan had found out about the whole thing with Kaiba and Serenity, he didn't seem to upset. It seemed that he had gotten over his obsession with the younger Wheeler, and was seemingly happy for her.

Only Joey was still disgruntled. Tristan had tried to cheer him up by saying that he had heard that Mai Valentine was in town, but that only resulted in him getting whacked across the head by the Brooklyn duelist.

After a quick breakfast, they decided to split up to try and find Marik's hideout. Joey insisted that Kaiba couldn't go with Serenity, and the CEO was too tired to argue. Finally, it was decided that Serenity went with Tristan, as he was the one capable of protecting her the best, after Joey, whom Serenity refused to go with, lest he nag the hell out of her. They decided to comb the area near the Washington Bridge. Tea and Joey would search Sixth Avenue. Serenity had hoped that Tea could knock some sense into Joey's head while they searched. Much to everyone's amazement, Kaiba and Yugi would have to search together. They would search the area near the site of the World Trade Center.

And so they split up.

Kaiba and Yugi exited their cab, and strode over to the edge of the site. Mounds of earth and rubble were still present, and so it seemed quite an unlikely hideout. They were just about to walk away, when Yugi yelled, "Hey! Is that a hole?"

Kaiba started and ran over to where the short duelist was. It was. Ignoring the tape, much to Yugi's skepticism, Kaiba walked over to it and bent over. He raised an eyebrow. The hole was about five feet wide, and seemed to go on and on. He shook his head fervently, unable to figure out what such a large hole was doing in the middle of the site of the World Trade Center.

Suddenly, he yelled in shock. He felt himself being sucked into the void. He was unable to resist it. Yugi tried to grasp his flailing hands, calling for help, but the area seemed to be deserted. Kaiba felt himself falling through infinite blackness, unable to do anything. Finally, he hit some ground with a thud. Shaking his head, he stood up, looking around.

He then heard a sneer saying, "Nice to meet you again, _Kaiba_." Kaiba saw the person and gasped, "You!"

"Kaiba?!" Yugi called down the hole in panic. "Kaiba????"

"I'd advise you to stop worrying about him, and more about yourself!" sneered a voice behind him. Yugi wheeled around and gasped, "You!"

Darren Hirugashi walked silently through the corridors of Duel Academy. It had been easy to get in, what with the low security. One guard was stationed at each entrance. Darren had simply used his gun on the guard. It had a silencer, so getting to the Slifer Red common room would be easy.

He was a surprisingly good-looking man, with shining green eyes, although they were covered with sunglasses. A black coat hovered over his ankles, and a Duel Disk was strapped to his arm. He smirked, revealing gleaming white teeth. He had reached the common room.

Jaden yawned and stretched his arms. He had had two duels on that day: one against Alexis and one against Chazz. The famous cyber-girl duelist had put up quite a fight with her Blade Skater, reducing Jaden to 500 life-points, but he struck back with a pumped-up Elemental Hero Flame Wingman, and managed to win.

Chazz had been easy from the start. Jaden toyed with him, allowing him to call upon his VYXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon, and reflecting the attack twice: with Magic Cylinder and the second time with Mirror Force, destroying it. He finished the duel with his Elemental Hero Neos.

It was nearly eleven p.m., and Jaden had just finished studying for the big test the next day. Boy, he hated rituals….. He got up, and was just about to walk to the door that led to the dormitory, when a knife flew over his shoulder, hitting the handle of the door, and closing it.

Jaden spun around in shock, to see a tall, thin man wearing a black coat. He had a Duel Disk, and it was activated. He was grinning maniacally. "Jaden Yuki……" he smirked.

"Whaddya' want?" said the teenager fearfully, backing away. "I'm Darren Hirugashi, and I'm here to duel you, by order of my Master Marik!"

Marik sneered as he looked at the floating image. He had been suspicious of Yuki's power. The boy had been able to take down the three Sacred Beasts. Although they were cheap imitations of Slifer, Ra, and Obelisk, they were still quite powerful. Along with Truesdale, Yuki and his Elemental Heroes might prove to be a bit of a problem later on. It was better to eliminate him at once. Darren wouldn't have a problem doing it.

"I'm not dueling you!" yelled Jaden. Darren shook his head. "You don't have a choice. You'll see why! I activate the field magic card, the Seal of Orichalcos!" A six-pointed pentacle inside a circle appeared on the floor, sending up faint waves of green energy from the ends. Jaden backed away in fear, but banged into the energy waves. They were blocking him.

Darren smirked. "Now you'll have to duel! Of course, you could surrender before the duel begins, but the consequences will be…. Unpleasant."

Jaden was trembling in shock, but realized that he didn't have a choice. Shakily, he activated his Duel Disk, and slotted his deck in.

"You fool. You'll be killed by the power of my deck!"

Jaden ignored him and yelled his catchphrase, "Get your game on!"

(Darren: 8000, Jaden: 8000)

**Well, expect three big duels and powerful monsters. This chapter was like downtime before the really intense stuff begins. Review a lot and I'll be able to update within the week. Reviews rock!**

**P.S. I know I got Mirage Knight's effect wrong. I did that on purpose. Yami would have lost otherwise. **


	16. Triple Threat of Doom, Part 1

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Triple Threat of Doom

Hey again! Hope this chapter satisfies you all! Took me a long time to right it! 

**Metal Overlord 2.0. : Thanks a lot man. Keep reading!**

**Princess Yuriana: Yeah well…..**

Darren smirked as he examined his hand. Boy, this kid was in for a tough time. With a hand like this, Darren wouldn't be surprised if the fool lost within a few turns. Still, he had to be cautious. Yuki was supposed to be one of the best duelists at Duel Academy.

"As the challenger, I'll go first. Meet my Archfiend Soldier (1900 + 500 2400/1500) in attack mode. A particularly vicious friend of mine." A purple horned fiend appeared on his field. He wore a golden cape, and true to Darren's word, he looked pretty vicious. He glared at Jaden, showing a bunch of razor sharp teeth.

Jaden swallowed. "Why did your monster gain five hundred attack points? Archfiend Soldier has nineteen hundred: everyone knows that."

Darren smirked and said, "My Seal gives each one of my monsters 500 extra attack points." "Damn," muttered Jaden.

"Tough luck kid. I also place one card face down."

Jaden examined his hand. That Seal gave him a gigantic advantage. With twenty-four hundred attack points, only a few monsters in Jaden's deck could overpower the Archfiend Soldier.

"Fine. I place a monster in defense mode along with one card facedown and call it a turn."

Darren drew. "I summon another vicious friend of mine. Doom Knight (1800 + 500 2300/1000) in attack mode!" A knight dressed in red and black armor appeared. He had a long sword dripping with blood, and his shield had the picture of a knight slashing a man in half. He raised his head, and Jaden saw that his face had a look of hungry bloodlust on it. His helmet had a deadly spike coming out of it.

Jaden shivered. It seemed as if Darren's deck was based on unnerving people.

"Doom Knight, attack his monster!" said Darren abruptly, a grin on his face. Doom Knight nodded and rushed forward. With one cleave of his sword; he split the card in half, to reveal Jaden's Elemental Hero Bubbleman (800/1200), a man dressed in blue and gray armor. He was split in half by the attack and yelled in pain. Parts of his armor flew off and hit Jaden hard.

He yelled in pain and then shock. His life-points were at 7600 even though his monster had been in defense mode.

"That's Doom Knight's effect. You see, every time he attacks a monster, you lose life-points equal to that monster's stars multiplied by four hundred. What's more, the monster is removed from play."

Jaden gasped. "What kind of sick thing is that?"

A ghostly image of the Bubbleman appeared and Jaden reluctantly slipped the card into his pocket. "A very powerful one. Very rare as well. In fact, Pegasus had originally made only forty copies. I'm lucky enough to have one. But enough of that. Archfiend Soldier, give it to him!"

The Archfiend Soldier roared in glee and rushed forward. It was about to bite Jaden's arm, when the E-Hero duelist ducked. It's teeth still connected with his shoulder, drawing a thread of blood. He winced, and cried out softly.

"End turn."

(Jaden: 5200, Darren: 8000)

Jaden thought, "Damn. With his powerful monsters, I'll soon lose if I don't protect myself for some time." He snapped the card off the top of his deck, muttering to himself, "Please be a good one, please be a good one, please be a good one……"

He looked at his card and whooped. "I activate my facedown Polymerization to fuse the Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) with the Elemental Hero Bubbleman (800/1200), both in my hand, to summon the Elemental Hero Mudballman (1900/3000) in defense mode!"

A massive new monster appeared. It was nearly completely made of large, brown balls, except for it's tiny shoulders and thighs. It had smaller blue balls on it's palms and elbows. "Three thousand defense points….." trailed off Darren. "Impressive." Jaden shook his head. "It's more than that! None of your monsters can get past it. So I'll just place one card face-down and end my turn!"

The person smirked at Kaiba. "Hello again. By the way, I have a name, you know. If you've forgotten it, it's Kevin Hunter!"

Kaiba shook his head in disbelief as Kevin stepped forward. A bit of light was streaming in from the hole, so they weren't completely shrouded in darkness. He chuckled. "Surprised to see me?"

Seto snarled back, "You better tell me how to get out of this place before I-…."

"Do what, Kaiba?" teased Kevin. "You're in a hole. So am I. But it's not your territory. It's mine. Or should I say: Marik's?"

"You're working for Marik?" gasped Kaiba in shock. Kevin shook his head. "I wouldn't use the word 'working'. You see, I'm much more powerful than the idiots who work for him. So we made a deal. He'll give me the means to beat you in a duel, while I'll do his stuff for him."

"And what makes you think I'll duel you?" smirked Kaiba. "I beat you before, I'm not wasting my time doing it again."

"Well, let's see. If you don't you'll be stuck in this hole forever. Marik can make that happen."

"Really? I don't think so." Before Kevin could react, he pulled out his cell phone. The other dragon duelist smirked. "Please. We're twenty feet down. You would have been dead if Marik hadn't cast a spell on that spot so that you slowed down. You'll never get a signal."

"Actually, I will," said Kaiba matter-of-factedly. "This phone is connected to a special Kaiba Corp. satellite, so all I have to do is punch in a few specific numbers, and the satellite will take it as a distress signal and send a message to all numbers of my contacts in the vicinity."

Before Kevin could reply, Seto's finger had hit the numbers of three, nine, seven, eight and four. Kevin snarled and said, "You'll be finished before anyone arrives!"

Seto shook his head arrogantly. "And why is that? Do you have a gun? Ooh, I'm shaking in my shoes. This place is big enough for me to slip into the shadows. You shoot once, the echoes will attract everyone in the area."

"Me?" smirked Kevin, calming down. "I'm not going to shoot you. I'm not even going to physically harm you. In fact, I have a proposition for you." His lips curled up so that his face was twisted into an impression of an actual smile.

"If you win in your duel against me, I'll tell you where Marik is keeping your brother Mokuba."

Seto nearly fell over. This was a golden opportunity. He could defeat this slacker and find out where his brother was, rather than having to go through the difficult process of finding and defeating Marik. But would this rookie keep his word?

"How do I know you'll keep your word?" retorted Seto.

"That's a chance you'll have to take. I'm a man, ahem, _teenager_ of my word. That's all you have."

Kaiba considered and finally said, "Forget it. I'm not dueling a rookie like you. Especially not after I've beaten you once before."

Kevin put on an especially nasty smirk and said, "Your funeral. You won't get your brother back until you beat Marik. That won't be easy. I should know, beca-…." Seto cut him off with an extra hard punch to the face. It knocked him off balance, but he was evidently in tip-top physical condition, so he was able to land on his hand and bounce back onto his feet. A trickle of blood was running down his lip. He continued smirking.

Seto roared in anger and rushed forward, his leg flying through the air; it's a target being his opponent's head. Kevin ducked it and blocked Seto's next punch. The CEO was a considerably good fighter, but his best point was all-out offense. Kevin's practiced defense was impenetrable for him. He threw a double-handed punch at Kevin's gut, while leaping up and kicking his waist at the same time. Kevin raised his knee to block the kick, and caught both of his opponent's fists in his hands. The pair struggled for a moment, but then broke apart.

Seto was furious, and although Kevin was a bit tired, he was had a teasing grin on his face. He raised his hand and extended his index finger, beckoning to Kaiba. "We can skip this crap and duel, and if you win you'll find out where your brother is. Or if you want we can continue brawling and wasting time until your people arrive and I can leave."

Seto calmed down, but clenched his fists. Hating himself, he snarled, "Where the hell is your Duel Disk?"

"I knew you'd see it my way," joked Kevin and pulled out a Duel Disk from his jacket. He put it on and slipped his deck in.

Kaiba did the same. He couldn't help noticing how different Kevin was from the last time they had met. He was almost like James Bond, making a large number of flippant remarks and irritating jokes.

"Let's duel!"

(Seto: 8000, Kevin: 8000)

The man was of medium height, with a short black beard. One of his eyes flashed green, while the other was built. He was dressed in a black robe, and he had a Duel Disk. "Grimo!" gasped Yugi.

Grimo smirked, "Surprised to see me? I'm sure you thought that once you beat me that I'd never return! As you can see, you're wrong. When you defeated my Master Dartz, _all _souls were returned to their bodies. And here I am, back at the service of my master, ready to take your soul."

Yugi glanced around uneasily. Grimo was a strong duelist, one of the few who could effectively wield an Egyptian God card. Yami wouldn't be surprised if he have one now. Yugi was confident that he could beat him, but it would be a long and drawn out duel, and heaven knew what would happen to Kaiba by then.

"I'm not going to duel you!" he snarled angrily.

"You won't? Fine, maybe you're girlfriend will duel me."

He gasped and turned around. Tea and Joey were running towards them, fearful looks on their face.

"What are you guys doing here?" called out Yugi. Tea held up her cell phone. Between gasps, she explained, "Got…. an…. emer….. gency……message….. from…..Kai….ba."

Grimo smirked as Yugi almost howled in frustration. Now that fiend had his friends to use against him on the spot. Joey frowned as he saw Grimo. "How are you back?! You lost to Yuge over here!"

Grimo shook his head dismissively. "Long story. Anyway, I have to duel someone. Decide among yourselves. I need one soul. I'll come back for the rest later." Joey walked forward confidently, but Yugi blocked him. "He's after me. I'll duel."

To their shock, Tea activated her Duel Disk and said, "I'll duel him." Yugi fell over and Joey sweat-dropped anime style. "Umm…. Tea. Are you feeling all right?" asked Joey.

Tea seemed oblivious to his sarcasm and said, "Yugi's still hurt from yesterday's duel, and you can take out the bigger guns."

Joey started. "Excuse me?" "You heard me," said Tea in a determined voice. "I will duel him."

Yugi tried to reason with her and said, "Listen, Tea, he's a very dangerous duelist. He was able to control a God card. I don't want to lose you to the Orichalcos!" Tea's look softened, but her determined voice remained.

"Trust me: I won't lose. I've built up a good deck. It won't be easy, but I will win." With that, she activated her Duel Disk and stepped forward. "Take it away," she said easily.

Grimo smirked. "With pleasure. I think I've changed my mind. You'll be much easier to finish, yet challenging. I'm going to enjoy this." He drew his first six cards, and looked up with a sick grin on his face. Joey had had enough. Impatiently, he said, "Forget it, Tea. I'll duel him." He was about to walk forward to stop Tea, when Grimo shook his head and said, "I don't think so."

Suddenly, Joey yelped and grabbed his calf. A knife was on the floor next to him. Grimo was chuckling. Yugi and Tea fell to their knees next to their friend.

"Now, are you going to duel or not?" smirked the Orichalcos duelist. Tea's face was burning with anger. Yugi shivered. He had never seen her so angry. He tried to say, "Tea, let me-…." Grimo raised his gun again, and said, "Be silent. Otherwise I'll be forced to hurt you in an unpleasant way."

Tea drew her first six cards and spat angrily, "Let's get this over with!"

(Tea: 8000, Grimo: 8000)

Kevin examined his hand and said, "As the challenger, I believe I have the right to go first. I'll start things of with my Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode." A shining purple dragon appeared and stared at Seto, who smirked and thought, "That idiot thought he could copy me. That was the card I started with in our previous duel."

"Next I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Kaiba looked at his hand and realized that he had only one option. "I summon Cave Dragon (2000/100)!" A massive green dragon appeared and snorted at Kevin. It waved its spiky tail. Kevin raised an eyebrow. "I believe you used that one to defeat Zane Truesdale."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. "How the hell do you know which cards I used against who?" Kevin shrugged and said, "Marik has his ways. Hurry up and finish your turn so that I can defeat you." Seto snorted, but placed one card facedown and left it at that.

"Perfect. I activate Polymerization to fuse the Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500/1100) with the Lord of Dragons (1200/1100) in my hand, to summon King Dragun (2400/1000) in attack mode!"

The serpentine dragon-man appeared, smirking at Kaiba, who gave a mock yawn. "You haven't improved a bit. This is exactly the same strategy that you used the last time we dueled. Continue this and my monsters will blow you away again." Kevin ignored him and slapped another card onto his Duel Disk. "I use King Dragun's ability to summon Des Volstgalph (2200/1700) in attack mode!"

The red-scaled reptile with green armor-like scales was his next creature, howling menacingly. He smirked and said, "Des Volstgalph, attack his Cave Dragon!" The demonic beast opened it's mouth and blasted Seto's dragon with a wave of fire. "Activate Negate Attack, immediately ending your Battle Phase and protecting me from your foolish attacks!"

Kevin was just as confident as previously and said, "Fine. You're dead next turn." Seto snorted. "Cut the bravado. I'll show you the power of a true dragon duelist. I sacrifice Cave Dragon to summon one of my most effective dragons. Meet Kaiser Glider (2400/2200)!" A gold covered creature that looked to be more like a massive bird that dragon appeared, screeching into the air. It glared at Kevin's dragons, who roared back.

"Kaiser Glider, attack his King Dragun!" The golden dragon opened it's mouth and a burst of golden fire hit the ten-foot, long humanoid dragon. "Kaiser Glider has the ability to survive battles with monsters of the same attack points," Seto smirked as the King Dragun was consumed by the massive blast of energy. "Now your dragons are completely exposed to the effects of my magic/trap cards."

Kevin shook his head, a similar look on his face. "Just hurry up and finish your turn, would you?" Seto narrowed his eyes, but placed one card facedown and ended his turn.

Kevin drew and a shadow passed over his eyes. "You'll never see your brother now, Kaiba…" he trailed off. Seto exploded. "What the hell is your problem?! Why did you want to come after me in the first place? The Blue-Eyes are mine, and you'll never get them! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"

Kevin gave a hollow laugh at Kaiba's outburst. "Do you want to know why I am doing this?" "YES!"

"Fine." Although his voice sounded calm, Seto sensed something foreboding. Kevin pulled of his jacket to reveal a black vest. A small pendant fell out of his jacket and Kevin caught it in his outstretched hand. It was old and made of silver. Without a sound, he threw it across the field to Kaiba, who caught it, surprised. "Open it."

Seto did so, revealing a small picture. It had a picture of a short, blond kid with a tall, well-built man, also blond, and a pretty brunette. Seto recognized the kid as a younger version of Kevin. "Those are Adam and Helen Hunter."

Kaiba gasped. "Adam Hunter? He's the one I defeated to get my title of World Champion." He looked at the photo again and said quietly, "They're you're parents aren't they?"

"Correction. They _were_ my parents."

"They're dead?" "You're really sensitive, aren't you?" said Kevin in a hollow voice. "But yes, my parents are dead."

"And don't you ever wonder what happened to him?" continued Kevin

"Does it look like I care?" He through the pendant back to Kevin, who caught it emotionlessly.

Kevin's voice began to crack, but he maintained his composure. "He won the 1990 World Tournament, but that was the end of the old generation of Duel Monsters. That's why know one has heard much about him. And then you did it."

Kaiba closed his eyes. It hadn't been pleasant. He and Adam Hunter had faced off in the quarterfinals of the 1997 World Tournament, and it had been one of the toughest duels in Seto's life. Hunter had used a dragon deck, and had pushed Seto to his limits. The CEO had nearly lost, but he had got a lucky draw, allowing him to turn the tables on Hunter. How could he have not realized? This kid's deck was identical to Hunter's. It must be some foolish concept of revenge. He opened his eyes. They were blazing with fury. He would beat this idiot and get his brother back.

Tea examined her hand. Hmm. Her strategy would work. She was confident of that. "If you think that I'm still using that old warrior-deck, think again," jeered Grimo.

Tea ignored him. "I activate the continuous spell card, Solemn Wishes. Thanks to this, I'll gain five hundred life-points every time one of us draws a card."

Grimo raised his eyebrows. "That won't save you for long."

Tea ignored him and said, "Next I summon Shining Angel (1400/700) in attack mode!" A male angel with large golden wings and blonde hair then appeared on the field. "I'll then activate my field spell card, Sanctuary in the Sky!"

Suddenly a large sanctuary then appeared behind Marie, and the field appeared as a blue sky with white fluffy clouds. "I'll reveal it's effect to you later. I think that's all for now."

Luckily, Grimo's knife had just scratched Joey a bit, and the bleeding had stopped. It wasn't serious. "Whaddya' think, Yuge?" asked Joey.

Yugi looked at the duel. "Well, I've seen Tea duel a few times. She uses a fairy, or angel deck. Her entire strategy is based on getting her life-points as high as possible, so that either her opponent can lose by deck out, or her more powerful monsters can benefit from high life-points with their effects."

"You think she can win?"

"Well, she may. If Grimo plays the Seal of Orichalcos, she'll be in big trouble. Also, I'm a bit suspicious about his comment that he has a different deck. But if she draws a few good cards, she might win." "_I hope_," he thought.

Grimo chuckled. "My move, and I'll draw." "I get 500 life-points," Tea reminded him. "Big deal. I summon Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World (1600/1300)!" A grey skinned creature, with a little golden armor and a spear with a scimitar in hand appeared on the field. It had demonic features, and gave Tea a fiendish glare, but she didn't seem worried.

"Beiige, attack her pathetic Shining Angel with Vanguard's Slash!" The fiend nodded and rushed forward with a shriek, it's massive blade arcing through the air, cutting the Shining Angel in half. Grimo smirked, but it was then that he noticed the life-point score. Tea's life-points hadn't dropped. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

Tea giggled slightly. "Thanks to Sanctuary in the Sky, I won't lose any life-points in battles involving fairy monsters. Shining Angel just happened to be a fairy as well, and he has a nice little effect. I can now summon one fairy with 1500 or less attack points from my deck. I choose another Shining Angel (1400/700)!" Another male angel swept gracefully onto the field.

Grimo growled, "End turn."

Tea bit her lip and drew. She had worked hard on this deck during all those years after Yami had left. Yugi had helped her with it, and she had practiced as much as she could in her free time. It was all coming out in this duel. She smirked at her card and said, "I sacrifice Shining Angel to summon my powerful Airknight Parshath (1900/1400) in attack mode!"

The male angel disappeared in a flash to be replaced by an angel that looked like a combo of an angel and horse. It really looked like a centaur, but instead of a warrior half, it was an angel half. "Airknight Parshath, attack his vanguard with Slash of the Ancient Fairy!" Airknight Parsharth galloped across the field and with one slash of it's mighty sword it had disemboweled the fiendish monster.

(Tea: 9000, Grimo: 7700)

"I set one card facedown end my turn."

Grimo drew. "I set one monster in defense mode." He knew about his situation. Airknight Parshath had the ability to deal damage through defense, popularly known as trample. But with his deck, he didn't need to worry. The moment he drew _that_ card, it would be all over for Gardner.

"One card facedown and end my turn."

Tea drew, Solemn Wishes granting her 500 more life-points. "Meet my The Agent of Creation – Venus (1600/0)!" A golden angel with long flowing blond hair rose up on the field, her arms crossed over her chest and wings spread as wide as they could go.

"She does have a special effect, but I don't need it now. But enough of that. Airknight Parshath, attack his facedown monster now!" This time, the centaur simply threw it's sword across the field towards the brown card. It flipped up, revealing a red skinned creature on four legs appeared on the field. His hind legs looked more like a dogs than anything. He had two spikes also jutting out from the back of his body also. He was instantly sliced in half.

"Scarr, Scout of the Dark World (500/500) lets me add one level four or lower Dark World monster from my deck to my hand. I choose Brron, Mad King of Dark World (1800/400)."

Tea shrugged and said, "Don't forget Airknight Parshath's trample ability, which means you lose 1400 life-points." Grimo didn't seem bothered, but Tea followed it up with an attack from Venus, who spread her arms and blew Grimo backwards with a wave of holy golden energy.

(Tea: 10000, Grimo: 4700)

Darren drew and said, "Now I'll introduce you to one of my more powerful monsters! By sacrificing Archfiend Soldier, I'll summon the terrible Mobius the Frost Monarch (2400 + 500 2900/1500)!" A white, semi-humanoid creature with a bulbous body appeared in the fiends place, its large arms holding up its bulk from the ground.

"Damn," thought Jaden. "Not those monarchs!"

"Mobius' effect states that if he's tribute-summoned, I can destroy up to two magic or trap cards on the field. Since you've only got one," Darren gestured towards the facedown card, "I think its goodbye." Mobius held out its two arms and shot out rays of frost towards his facedown card. "Unfortunately, he's 100 points to weak to beat your rocky freak, so I'll leave it at that for now. End turn."

Jaden drew, praying desperately for some luck. At that second, the dormitory door opened, and a very sleepy Syrus Truesdale walked out in his pajamas. He rubbed his eyes and was about to mutter something when he saw the scene before him and yelled, "What the-…" Darren reacting swift as a viper, another knife flying through the air. If his aim, had been slightly off, it would have been bye-bye Syrus Truesdale. The knife hit the part Syrus' nightshirt that was hovering above his shoulder.

It seemed as if the knife was being powered by a strange force, as it threw Syrus against the door, and pinned him their. He yelped in fright. Darren glared at him and said, "Now that that stupidity is over, let us continue this duel. It's your turn, the last time I checked."

Jaden drew shakily and said, "I set one card face down and end my turn."

Darren drew and began to laugh. "It's all over, Jaden Yuki. I sacrifice Doom Knight to summon Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (2400 + 500 2900/1500)!" A bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of him. As the flash of light dissipated, a large figure in dark, spined armor appeared, electricity crackling along its arms. Mobius roared at the new arrival. It was more like a greeting than a challenge.

"Zaborg destroys a monster when he's summoned, so say goodbye to your only defense!" Zaborg gathered an orb of electricity in its large hands, then through it at Jaden's field. The ball struck the Elemental Hero Mudballman tearing it apart instantaneously. "NO!" yelled Jaden and Syrus at the same time.

At that second, four people burst into the room. They were a tall, green haired teen, Zane Truesdale; a pretty blonde girl, Alexis Rhodes; a middle-aged bearded man, Chancellor Sheppard; and finally a strange man with shoulder length blonde hair and pale skin. He was Vellian Crowler. Zane acted immediately. Being the strongest of the four, he rushed towards Darren, only to crash into the invisible wall around the Seal and be knocked back.

"What are you doing in this academy?!" roared Sheppard. Darren smirked nastily and said, "Are you blind, old man? I'm dueling. Even that freak next to you could tell that."

Vellian yelped angrily, "I'm not a freak! I just have a few physical…. abnormalities, that's all! But off the topic, how did you get in, and why are you dueling the Jaden Yucky- I mean Yuki!"

Darren ignored them and smirked, "Zaborg, attack his life-points directly!" The thunder monarch released another ball of energy, this time at Jaden himself, knocking him backward. He could barely yell in pain before Mobius fired a blast of ice at him, for the winning attack, even as Alexis yelled his name in horror…

"When I beat you and get your dragons, I'll have regained my father's honor and taken my place as the true master of dragons!" Kevin yelled, a maniacal look dancing through his eyes.

"I sacrifice Des Volstgalph and Luster Dragon to summon up the terrible beast of your doom! Say hello to Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500)!" A massive brown dragon appeared. It was at least twenty-five feet tall, and it's massive, long tail curled up behind it. It threw open it's wings, to show how big it was. It was easily as ferocious as the Blue Eyes White Dragon, roaring at Seto loudly.

"I still have two cards to play: first I activate the field spell, the Seal of Orichalcos!" The usual six-pointed star surrounded by a circle appeared, and spread across the field, even as Seto yelled, "No!"

Kevin looked up and smirked, the Orichalcos symbol shining on his forehead. "Like it Kaiba? It's been a while since you've experienced this card. I believe a certain Dartz defeated you with it, didn't' he?" Kaiba was trying to ignore this, and instead concentrated on a certain scale on the Tyrant Dragon (2900 + 500 3400/2500).

"Just for fun, I'll combine my Tyrant Dragon with United We Stand, giving it 800 extra attack points for every monster on the field, including itself!" The Tyrant Dragon roared as it's ATK shot up to a mind-blowing 4200 and his defense was now 3300. "Attack his monster with Tyrant Flame of Death!" The leviathan opened it's mouth and fired a massive wave of fire at the Kaiser Glider, obliterating it.

"Idiot," smirked Kaiba. "How could you be so dumb as to attack Kaiser Glider, when you have one in your deck and know of it's effect? Now that he's been destroyed, Tyrant Dragon will return to your hand, making it at dead weight." Kevin shook his head and pointed to his Duel Disk. "Of course I knew of it's effect. That's why my facedown Divine Wrath allows me to discard one card to negate it, and saves my mighty beast!"

Seto growled in frustration and said, "Fine." Kevin smirked. "End turn."

(Seto: 6200, Kevin: 8000)

Seto drew and glared at Kevin, who continued to smirk back.

"I set one monster facedown in defense mode, and one card facedown, leaving it at that."

Kevin drew and said, "I summon a monster in defense mode, granting Tyrant Dragon 800 more attack points." The giant beast's ATK hit 5000, while his defense was 4100. "Attack his facedown monster now!" he roared.

Seto smirked. "Sorry. I activate my trap card Sakuretsu Armor, destroying your pathetic dragon." Plates of metal covered his facedown card, but the Tyrant Dragon's attack continued on, burning the facedown monster to a crisp. "But my trap-…" said Kaiba in shock.

"Tyrant Dragon's effect states that I can negate trap cards that specifically target it," said Kevin nastily. "Tough luck. Looks like you're going down, Kaiba." Seto growled but said nothing. "However, I can only attack twice with Tyrant Dragon if you have a monster. I guess I'll end my turn."

Seto drew, and thought, "Hmm. If I summon another monster, he'll just tear it apart with Tyrant Dragon. Or maybe he'll destroy it with his facedown monster, and attack me directly with Tyrant Dragon. If he summons another monster, I'm doomed."

After consideration, he said, "I set this one monster in defense mode. Try and get past it." Kevin chortled, "You're so desperate. I flip summon my Dragon Dwelling in the Cave (1300 + 500 1800/2000) and I'll also activate Monster Reborn, to summon my Lord of Dragons (1200 + 500 1600/1100) from the graveyard." A man wearing dragon bone armor appeared next to the Tyrant Dragon.

"Then I'll play the Flute of Summoning Dragon to summon two dragons from my hand. I think I'll summon Luster Dragon #2 (2400+ 500 2900/1400) and Midnight Moon Dragon (2800 + 500 3300/2500)!"

A larger version of the Luster Dragon appeared. However, it was green. The next dragon was pitch black with a few highlights of white. It stood about twenty feet tall, and had fanned out its wings with a roar. "_Where does this kid get these kind of cards from?!_" thought Kaiba.

"Don't forget that now that I have five monsters on the field, my Tyrant Dragon gains 4000 attack points. (7400/6500)"

Kaiba grimaced but said nothing. "Now you're doomed! Midnight Moon Dragon can destroy monsters regardless of what their defense points are, so if you were hoping that your facedown defense monster could somehow save you, I'm afraid you're mistaken. Midnight Moon Dragon, attack his monster with Black Night Cannon!"

The Midnight Moon Dragon opened it's mouth and fired a wave of jet-black energy at the facedown card. It flipped up to reveal a small, shriveled up zombie in a purple robe. "Noooooo!!!!!" yelled Kevin angrily. Seto smirked.

"Spirit Reaper (300/200) may be weak, but he can't be destroyed in battle, making him invincible. So much for your dragons." Kevin roared in anger but ended his turn.

Kaiba drew and said, "I activate Card of Sanctity." Kevin was surprised at this good fortune, as his last combo had nearly emptied his hand. Both drew until they had six cards in their hands. Seto smirked and said, "I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

Kevin said, "I activate Fusion Recovery, bringing back one Polymerization card, as well as a fusion material monster from my graveyard to my hand. And I choose the Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500/1100)!" Fanning out his hand full of seven cards, Kevin smirked and continued, "I'll activate Polymerization, to fuse the Lord of Dragons on my field with the Divine Dragon Ragnarok in my hand to summon another King Dragun (2400 + 500 2900/1100)."

The adder-like dragon human appeared, but this time with the Orichalcos symbol on it's forehead. It roared at Seto. "Now you won't be able to use any magic cards on my dragons, or any crap like that. Anyway, I'll also use his effect to summon Hyozanryu (2100+ 500 2600/2800) in defense mode."

A long diamond armored dragon appeared and curled into a ball. Kaiba grimaced as the Tyrant Dragon's ATK shot up to a massive 8200, stronger than any monster really needed to be and it's defense at an impenetrable 7300. "I end my turn."

"C'mon, c'mon," Kaiba prayed silently. "Be a good card, be a good card……" He snapped the top card of his deck and smirked. "So much for you army."

"What do you mean?" asked Kevin, narrowing his eyes. "I mean this! I activate White Dragon Ritual, so that I can sacrifice the Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in my hand, to summon a Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200)!" The ghostly image of an ogre wielding an axe/spear appeared and disappeared, only to be replaced by a knight clad in white armor, riding a miniature Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It's white sword flashed.

"I don't understand. Paladin of White Dragon's effect only affects facedown defense monsters. None of my monsters come under that category," said Kevin, confused but confident.

"It does have another ability," Kaiba smirked. "One that I'll show to you right now. I can sacrifice it to summon my ultimate fighting machine, the **_Blue Eyes White Dragon_ **(3000/2500)!" The Paladin disappeared in a flash of light, and it's mount began to grow. It's talons grew longer, and long teeth grew out of it's mouth. It turned bluish from it's snow white color.

"No," whispered Kevin, falling to his knees. "Not the Blue Eyes White Dragon, not her…" Seto smirked and said, "Although my Blue-Eyes can't attack this turn, it doesn't matter. I have one card that can take care of everything: the extremely rare and powerful magic card, BURST STREAM OF DESTRUCTION!"

The Blue Eyes opened it's mouth and a ball of energy formed. "When a Blue Eyes is on the field, Burst Stream of Destruction will automatically destroy all monsters on your field, in exchange for the Blue-Eyes not attacking. In short," Kaiba drew a finger across his throat dramatically. "You're army is done for."

The Blue-Eyes released the gigantic wave of energy which enveloped Kevin's entire field, even the massive Tyrant Dragon. Kaiba began to laugh as Kevin yelled in fury at the destruction of his dragons. The massive explosion shook the entire cavern, with smoke coming up from Kevin's field.

When the smoke cleared, their was a scorch mark on the field next to Kevin, who had fallen to his knees again, an emotionless look on his face. Seto smirked and said, "Now that the Blue Eyes had risen, I'll end my turn."

Emotionlessly, Kevin drew and said, "One card facedown. End turn."

It was back to Seto. "I summon Kaibaman (200/700) in attack mode!" The warrior dressed in Kaiba's trench coat appeared, smirking at Kevin. "Then I'll sacrifice it for a second Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

The human disappeared, only to be replaced by another metallic, gigantic dragon. "Go, both my dragons, attack his life-points directly with Double White Lightning!" The two dragons both threw their heads back and fired twin blasts of white energy at Kevin. They hit him head on, throwing him across the room.

Grimo smirked and drew. "Now you're finished, Gardner. Activate field spell, the Seal of Orichalcos!"

"NO!" yelled Yugi and Joey simultaneously. The usual six-pointed star surrounded by a circle appeared, and spread across the field. Grimo laughed as Tea groaned in frustration. The Sanctuary in the Sky exploded. "Now that your little sanctuary is gone, you're finished!"

"I knew Tea shouldn't have accepted 'dat duel!" muttered Joey angrily as he glared at Grimo. "'De only way to break it is with one of 'dose Orichalcos stones. Maybe we can find someone who has one in time to…." he continued to himself. Meanwhile, a silent tear rolled down Yugi's cheek.

Grimo said enthusiastically, "Now, let's continue, shall we? I summon Brron, Mad King of Dark World (1800+ 500 2300/400) in attack mode!" An insane cackle was heard, one that caused Tea to shiver. A second later, a purely insane-looking skeletal fiend dressed in kingly robes, with long, lanky arms and a wild hairdo appeared, laughing insanely. Then its eyes glowed a wicked looking red, and the Orichalcos symbol appeared on his forehead as well. The two fairies cried out in shock at the ghastly arrival.

"Brron! Attack her pathetic Airknight with Mad King's Wrath!" Still laughing, Brron raised it's skeletal hand and fired a massive blast of black energy at Parshath, who tried to block it with his sword. He was easily overcome by the stronger monster.

"Next I'll activate Brron's ability, which allows me to-…." "Stop right there," yelled Tea. "I activate my facedown trap card, Divine Wrath! This lets me discard one card from my hand to negate your monster's effect and destroys it!" Grimo cried out in shock as a bolt of energy hit his monster, frying it. It's bones rattled wildly as it cried in pain before it exploded. Grimo swore, set a facedown card and ended his turn.

(Tea: 10100, Grimo: 4700)

Tea drew and said, "I summon Royal Knight (1300/800) in attack mode!" A knight dressed in armor crafted seemingly by celestial forces, along with a sword and angelic wings, materialized and hovered next to her. "Pretty weak," scoffed Grimo. "Not after I combine it with the Malevolent Nuzzler, increasing its ATK by 700!"

The Royal Knight (2000/800) glowed with bright energy and pointed it's sword at Grimo. "Now, Royal Knight! Attack his life-points directly!" The Royal Knight raised it's sword and rushed forward, attempting to slash Grimo in half. He roared, "Not so fast! Activate Wabuko, protecting he from all life-point damage till the end of the turn!"

Tea closed her eyes as the three-robed mages blocked her knight, and then opened them. "One card facedown. End turn."

(Tea: 10600, Grimo: 4700)

Grimo drew and smirked. "I place a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

It was back to Tea. As she drew, Solemn Wishes granted her 500 life-points. "I summon Spirit of the Pot of Greed (100/100) in defense mode." A green jar with a smiling face and a small spirit sticking out of the top of it then appeared on the field. Grimo smirked and said, "That pathetic little thing is nothing to me, you fool!"

Tea ignored him and said, "I activate Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards from my deck! Next, I invoke my Spirit of the Pot of Greed's special ability. As long as it's on the field in attack mode, when either of us plays Pot of Greed, I get to draw an extra card." She drew three cards, gaining 1500 life-points.

"Finally, I'll attack your monster with my Royal Knight!" The Royal Knight rushed forward and slashed the hologram of the card in half, revealing it to be a strange, round, gray fiend. It had stumpy arms and legs, with a strange, toothy grin. It was Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World (300/500). It was easily torn apart by the Royal Knight, and Tea pointed out, "When Royal Knight destroys a monster, I gain that monster's defense points."

Then, Venus released another holy, golden wave upon Grimo, hitting his chest and driving him backwards. But he continued grinning. "Hurry up and finish your turn, Gardner!"

Tea narrowed her eyes, placed one card facedown and ended her turn.

(Tea: 13600, Grimo 3100)

Grimo drew and said, "I summon Zure, Knight of Dark World (1800 + 500 2300/1500) in attack mode!" A skeletal knight dressed in gray robes and a blue fur cape appeared. It's blue eyes flashed and it cackled at Tea. It raised a blue daemon-blade.

"Attack her pathetic Royal Knight with Dark Knight's Revenge!" Zure raised his sword and disappeared in a flash. It reappeared behind the Royal Knight and was about to slash it when Tea yelled, "I activate Reinforcements, increasing my Royal Knight's ATK by 500 till the end of the turn!" The Royal Knight's ATK shot up to 2500! It whirled around and slashed Zure in half easily. Zure yelled in pain as it disappeared: a sound like the rattling of bones in the wind.

(Tea: 15600, Grimo: 2900)

"Fine," spat Grimo. "I set one card and end my turn!"

Tea drew. "I summon Hysteric Fairy (1800/500), in attack mode!" A bespectacled fairy dressed in blue robes with blue hair appeared. Her white wings spread out and she adjusted her glasses, while clutching a book in the other hand. "You're done! Attack his life-points directly, Royal Knight!"

The Royal Knight nodded and rushed forward, when Grimo smirked, "I activate Dark Wall of Air, which protects me from all direct attacks from the end of the turn!" A massive dark fog appeared in front of Grimo, blocking the fairies. They looked around, confused, and floated back to Tea's field. "End turn."

Grimo drew. "I activate Cost Down, discarding one card from my hand to reduce the stars of all my monsters by two! So now I can introduce you to Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World (2300 + 500 2800/1400)!" Suddenly, a huge gold-colored Monster in gold armor, holding a huge axe, materialized on the field, and glared at Tea.

"Attack her Hysteric Fairy with Dark King's Rage!" Goldd raised his axe and flung it across the field at the Hysteric Fairy, who shrunk back in fright. At that moment, a massive wall of brown fur balls with yellow eyes appeared in front of Tea. Goldd's axe cut through all off them and hit the Hysteric Fairy and slashed her in half. Tea bit her lip. "I discarded Kuriboh (300/200) to reduce all damage that I would have taken to zero. Too bad."

Grimo shrugged. "You're dead anyway. End turn."

(Tea: 16600, Grimo: 2900)

Tea drew. "I switch both my monsters to defense mode and play one card facedown. I think that's all for now."

It was back to Grimo. He drew and began to laugh in a way that made Tea feel very uneasy. Yugi gasped, for he knew exactly what Grimo was going to do. "Are you finished?" yelled Tea. "Oh yes," said Grimo, wiping a mock tear from his eyes. "I was just thinking about all the effort you've taken to give yourself so many life-points, and it's all to nothing!"

"What do you mean?" said Tea, narrowing her eyes. "Oh you'll see soon enough. First I activate Monster Reborn, to revive Zure, Knight of the Dark World (1800 + 500 2300/1500)!"

The skeletal fiend reappeared next to it's lord, and glared at Tea. "Then I play Brain Control, giving up 800 life-points to take control of a monster on your field. My choice is your pathetic Venus."

A brain appeared in front of Grimo, and a pair of green tentacles stretched out and grabbed the angel. With a yank, she was pulled onto Grimo's field. He smirked and said, "You're done."

It was then that Tea realized what was going on. "NO!" she yelled in shock. Grimo shook his head as his eyes blazed red. "I sacrifice all three of my monsters to summon my ultimate beast! Meet the Egyptian God card, SLIFER THE SKY DRAGON (X000/X000)!!!!!"

Kevin got up with a grunt as Kaiba smirked. "Had enough? Doesn't look like it. Don't worry, you'll get your due next turn. I'll end this turn."

(Seto: 6200, Kevin: 2000)

Kevin drew, knowing only one combo in his deck could save him from Kaiba's dragon. Praying for the card he needed, he looked at it and a smile of satisfaction crossed his face.

"First I'll play Pot of Greed, to draw two cards from my deck." Immediately, he snapped the top two cards of his deck.

"I activate my facedown card, Call of the Haunted, to revive King Dragun (2400/1100)!" The adder-like master of dragons appeared, although it was by no means the master of the behemoths on Kaiba's field. "Then I'll use it's ability to summon a dragon from my hand of such unspeakable power, that it was never released as an official card! I summon the god of dragons! I summon the master of the dimension! I summon the GRAND EMPEROR DRAGON, ENVOY OF REVENGE (2000 + 500 2500/2500)!!!!"

The King Dragun shrieked softly and there was a rumbling. Seto looked around uneasily and then blanched.

The air above them shimmered with a golden light that came from somewhere above the dueling field. Seto placed his hands over his eyes to shield them from the bright light.

Through it all Kevin did not close his eyes in the slightest. He kept them wide open and laughed as a dragon came to a soft landing on the ground in front of him. The creature let out one earth-shattering roar and then the lights around it dimmed enough for Rikuo to see it.

It stood about forty tall, with a wingspan twice as long. It was plated in golden armoring, making it look like a smaller version of the Winged Dragon of Ra. It's quicksilver eyes darted across the field until they came to rest on Seto. It let out a sound halfway between a hiss and a roar and glared at Seto with hatred that he thought was impossible.

"So what?" he said uneasily. "It's only got twenty-five hundred life-points. That's even less than your King Dragun. What difference does it make?"

Kevin's eyes blazed red and he snarled, "I'll show you! I sacrifice King Dragun for my powerful beast, DRAGON DEMON LORD (2400 + 500 2900/1000)!"

A dragon demon in heavy samurai armor appeared on the field wielding a spear. It had the head of a human, but seemed in no way a human. It clutched it's spear tightly and glared at Seto, and it seemed like for a moment he was going to attack without getting an order from Kevin for him to do so.

Kevin smiled serenely. "Now my combo is coming to fruition. I activate my magic card Lord's Ascension. This will transform my Dragon Demon Lord into an even mightier creature."

The Dragon Demon Lord roared and its armor turned gold, and it seemed to shift into a new form that made it look more like a golden statue of itself then a warrior. "Say hello the almighty Grand Dragon General (3000 + 500 3500/2500) in attack mode." The beast roared once more and Seto shivered. Now Kevin could take out his Blue Eyes White Dragons.

"I take it that you think I'll use my Grand Dragon General to defeat you, don't you?" smirked Kevin nastily. "That's not the plan. You'll see it in a just a minute. I equip my Grand Dragon General with the equipment magic card Revival Spear." A crystal spear appeared next to the Grand Dragon General. The golden armored warrior threw its normal spear aside and grabbed the new weapon.

Seto narrowed his eyes. "_He's definitely got something up his sleeve…"_

Kevin looked to his Grand Dragon General. "Time to end this." The monster nodded and tapped the butt of its spear into the ground. The earth next to it churned and the reptilian head of one of Kevin's dragons broke through the surface of the ground. It was totally unrecognizable, because of the fact that it was covered in dirt. The dirt-covered dragon shivered in pain and then exploded into dust.

The crystal spear of the Grand Dragon General released a weak green light that invigorated its wielder. The General struck its spear against the ground again and another dragon from Ryu's graveyard appeared, only to explode just like the one before it.

The spear glowed once more and the Grand Dragon General repeated the process of summoning of a dragon, only to destroy it.

While all of this was happening, the attack totals of Ryu's Grand Emperor Dragon went insane. Seto gasped, at this, realizing what was happening.

The CEO stared in horror as the holographic screen over the Emperor Dragon's head finally came to a stop. (∞/2500)

"HOW DOES YOUR MONSTER HAVE INFINITE ATTACK POINTS?!" roared Seto, trying in vain to hide the fear I his voice. Kevin smirked.

"The combo's quite simple actually. I'll explain. On each of my turns Grand Dragon General may summon one dragon type monster at random from my graveyard."

Then he pointed at his Grand Emperor Dragon next. "My dragon's special ability is that it permanently gains 500 attack points every time a dragon sub-type monster is summoned to the field."

Finally he pointed at the Revival Spear that the General was holding. "Revival Spear allows whatever monster holding it to re-use its special ability as many times as it wants each turn. All it requires is that for each extra time the ability is used I must sacrifice a monster from my field."

Seto already saw the combo. "Every time that you summon back a dragon from the graveyard with your General's effect, your Grand Emperor Dragon gains 500 attack points. Then you sacrifice the summoned dragon to power your spear. Your General repeats his summon effect and your Grand Emperor gains another 500 attack points. You continue this process until..."

"...my Grand Emperor Dragon has infinite attack points. Explanations don't matter now, Kaiba! You're doomed! Grand Emperor Dragon, attack his pathetic Blue-Eyes with your ultimate SOLAR STREAM!"

The Grand Emperor Dragon roared and opened its crystalline jaws. Instantly a lump of golden light appeared between its teeth. The lump grew and grew, until it was like a miniature sun. The dragon released the sun of energy in the form of a wave of light that threatened to annihilate Seto as it shot across the field…

Whew! Eight-six hundred words! My personal record. I don' think I'll be updating for at least a week! Anyway, please review, I think I deserve it!

**Original Cards**

**By Me: Doom Knight, Midnight Moon Dragon**

**By Wolf General: Dragon Demon Lord, Lord's Ascension, Grand Dragon General, Grand Emperor Dragon- Envoy of Revenge, Revival Spear. The entire combo is his. Read his stories if you're even if you have the slightest bit of interest in Yu-Gi-Oh.**

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	17. Triple Threat of Doom, Part 2

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Triple Threat of Doom, Part 2

**Metal Overlord 2.0.: Thanks a lot. Yup, Kevin can be nasty if he wants too. Thanks BEWK for making him like that.**

**Princess Yuriana: Thanks for the review. **

**BEWK: Read on and enjoy, my friend. I nearly typed 'fiend' instead of 'friend' back there. Noticed it just before I uploaded the chapter.**

**On with the story!**

Marik smirked quietly. All three of his Hunters were in a winning position. Although he was a bit irritated that Grimo ended up dueling Gardner, he didn't mind. It might have been for the best, as he was sure that the Pharaoh, although a fool, would be able to take out Slifer with some crazy combo. Dartz had been apprehensive about giving Grimo a God. After all, he had screwed it up badly with Obelisk. But then again, the others weren't strong enough to wield a God.

The various god cards were on tiers. On tier one were the immortals, although they were not quite Gods. Dartz's Orichalcos Demon Dragon and Divine Serpent fit the bill. When it came to dueling, they had amazing power but weren't immune to anything. Yes, it was easy to defeat them with some effort. It had already been done.

On tier two were Obelisk the Tormentor and Slifer the Sky Dragon. Of course, there were actually a number of cards that surpassed Obelisk when it came to stats, but they didn't have his devastating potential. In the right hands, he was deadly. Kaiba had proved that in Battle City, crushing Rare Hunters with it's terrible wrath.

Slifer, too was deadly, although both Gods were not invincible. It had been proved. At only four thousand, it would take a bit off effort for a duelist to summon a monster that could surpass Obelisk's ATK. The trick was to use it's ability to wipe out one's opponent with it's special ability before any such thing would happen. Slifer's second mouth could work against it, Yami had proved that. Yes, they were powerful, very powerful, but not invincible.

"Do you really think I'd let you win so easily?" exploded Jaden. "I activate Magical Cylinder, negating your attack and reducing your life-points by your monster's ATK!"

Two purple, hollow cylinders appeared. The blast of ice was absorbed into one, and seemingly disappeared. But the other one then fired it back at Darren. It hit his chest, knocking him off his feet.

(Darren: 5100, Jaden: 2300)

Darren had been wearing a thick shirt as well as a trench coat. Otherwise, Mobius' reflected attack would have frozen him. Angrily, he stood up and flung his coat off. "I-…end my turn."

Jaden drew, worried. He knew that unless he destroyed the monarchs on that turn, he would lose. Praying for a good card, he drew, and smirked. "Yeah! Say goodbye to both those monarchs, cause' I activate Fusion Recovery, to take Polymerization and a fusion-material monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand!" His graveyard forced out Polymerization and Elemental Hero Bubbleman and he added it to his hand.

Observing his opponent's field with a grin, he said, "I activate Polymerization to fuse Elemental Hero Wildheart (1500/1600) with Elemental Hero Necroshade (1600/1800) in my hand to summon Elemental Hero Necroid Shaman (1900/1800)!" A strange monster appeared. It was bare chest, and wore a kind of black mask with long red hair. It carried a staff that had golden rings.

"Necroshade's effect states that when he's sent to the graveyard in any way, I get to summon one monster from my hand that's an Elemental Hero!" He grinned and slapped another card onto his Duel Disk. "Introducing one of my personal favorites, Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!!!"

A massive ball of light appeared- then that ball exploded outward in a shower of stars that covered the entire field! On Jaden's side of the field, was a white being with red markings all over his body and a blue gemstone in the middle of his chest. Sparks glittered all over his body; he appeared tall and extremely muscular for a Duel Monster.

Alexis looked on in awe as Jaden called upon one of his most powerful monsters. She had seen him use it, and few survived it's destructive wrath.

"Twenty-five hundred? That's nothing to my monarchs," shrugged Darren. "Oh really? We'll see. First I activate Necroid Shaman's ability, to destroy one monster on your field." He pointed at Mobius. Mutely, the Necroid Shaman raised it's staff and fired a blast of red energy at Mobius, destroying it. "I then have to let you summon a monster from your graveyard. I choose Doom Knight (1800 + 500 2300/1000)!"

Darren blanched. "But Doom Knight can't be special summoned in any way!" Jaden grinned nastily. "Well the he won't be returning, will he? And now for your remaining Monarch!"

Darren calmed down and shook his head. "I don't think so. Your Elemental Hero Neos has only 2500 attack points, 400 weaker than Zaborg. Too bad, Yuki."

The Slifer Red wonder just smirked. "I have a magic card here that say differently: Strike of Neos!" Neos began to glow. To everyone's shock, he turned a light purplish-blue, and sprouted feathered wings. His features became more angled, and a sword flew out of nowhere into his hand.

Darren swallowed. "St..rik…e of N…-Neos?" Jaden nodded.

"A powerful equip card that can only be equipped to Neos himself, when I have another Elemental Hero on the field. Now Neos can automatically destroy any monster it faces in battle, without getting destroyed himself, and without dealing damage to me. What's more, when he destroys any monster in this way, you lose a thousand life-points! Neos, lead the charge and blow up his monarch!"

The powerful E-Hero nodded and flapped it's wings so that it shot across the field. With one swing of it's mighty sword, it had decapitating the king of thunder. The fused E-Hero followed it up with a blast of red energy.

"I think I'll call it a turn."

(Jaden: 2300, Darren: 2900)

Alexis heaved a sigh of relief as Zane pulled out the knife that was pinning his brother to the door. Sheppard had realized how psychotic Darren was, and had fallen silent, knowing that all they could do to help Jaden was cheer for him.

"Fool," smirked Darren. "You destroy two monarchs, and you think you've finished the set? Ill have you know that I have three monarchs remaining!" Jaden gasped as the fiendish duelist raised three fingers for emphasis. "And now… my turn!"

Darren drew and said, "I summon Inazu, the Lightning Prince (1400 + 500 1900/0)!" A smaller version of Zaborg appeared. It actually had human features, and wore a gray robe. "Strange name," muttered Jaden.

Darren ignored him and said, "Inazu is Zaborg's offspring, He isn't fully grown yet, but he maintains some of the his father's powers. By discarding a card, I can destroy a monster on the field." Inazu shrieked and a bolt of lightning left it's hands, obliterating Neos. Jaden grunted. This was bad. He had lost one of his most powerful monsters.

"His strength is equal to that of your Necroid Shaman, so I'll leave it at that for now. Make your move: if you dare."

Jaden frowned and drew, while his opponent's eyes glowed red. "I summon Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000) in defense mode!" A winged man appeared, covered in green feathers. He was crouching beside Jaden's other monster, and attempted to intimidate Inazu with a flap of it's considerably large wings. Darren ignored it. "I end my turn."

The fiend and monarch duelist drew, and a sick grin spread over his face.

"Uh oh," thought Tea. Yugi and Joey yelled, "No!" Zure, Goldd, and Venus all looked to the sky and beams of light appeared around them. With a flash they vanished. Grimo began to laugh as the bright sun began to dim. Black clouds rolled into the sky from nowhere and lightning hit the ground, barely missing Tea, Yugi and Joey.

Suddenly,a gigantic red dragon appeared from within the clouds. It's head came first, followed by parts of it's body.

It's sinuous form rolled out of the sky, which seemed to have fallen a good deal lower. There was obviously more of its body unseen, as part of it was bellow the clouds. The blue jewel on its head seemed to practically pulse with power, and the two immense, teeth-filled maws beneath it were crackling with energy. It's fully extended wings now eclipsed the sky. Lastly, the two, weak-looking claws just beneath its wings were razor-sharp, and looked as ready to reap destruction as the rest of it's arsenal. The symbol of the Orichalcos glowed on it's forehead.

Grimo was crazed with laughter. "All those life-points: and you're just going to fall to my god!" (1000 + 500 1500/1000)

Tea swallowed, but pointed out, "Hate to burst your bubble, but you've only got one card in your hand, meaning Slifer has a thousand attack points, plus five hundred from the Seal, for a measly fifteen hundred, which happens to be 500 less than my Royal Knight. You summoned a god for nothing."

Grimo shook his head. "I really can't believe that you'd be so foolish as to think I'd summon Slifer without backup. I activate Pot of Greed, which let's me draw two cards from my deck."

Tea gasped as he snapped the top two cards of his deck and smirked at her. Slifer (2500/2000) roared at her as thunderous clouds rumbled overhead. It was a wonder that no one had been attracted to the duel.

"Attack her pathetic knight with your divine THUNDER FORCE!" Slifer opened it's lower mouth and sent out a titanic blast of divine yellow energy at Tea's knight. The blast crashed into it, incinerating it with a massive explosion. It knocked Tea of her feet. "TEA!" yelled Yugi, and Joey and him ran to the edge of the Seal. The beams of energy blocked them, but that didn't stop Yugi from trying to slide his hand in.

"I'm okay," breathed Tea and heaved herself up. Shaking, she dusted herself up and looked determinedly at the massive God. Grimo smirked. "You're really screwed. End turn."

Tea prayed for a good card and drew. She was still in a good position. She had nearly nineteen thousand life-points, which would continue to increase if Grimo kept using draw power to increase Slifer's ATK. It would be enough to survive Slifer's onslaught for a few turns. But she would need a strategy to defeat it, and she knew that their was only one card in her deck that could do so. But for now, she would stall.

"All right! I activate Swords of Revealing Light, blocking you from attacking for three turns!" Three shining swords of light shot out of the sky and landed between Tea and Slifer, which roared at the protective barrier. "Since it isn't exactly affecting Slifer itself, it's divine abilities won't protect it," she said triumphantly, while thoughts of dread crossed her mind. This would protect her, but unless she drew _that_ card, she was finished.

Now she knew how Yami must have felt when he faced Slifer all those years ago in Battle City.

Grimo drew, giving Tea 19100 life points. He ignored this, instead choosing to say, "Keh, it doesn't matter. I have a card in my hand that will really finish you for good! Be ready to face the true power of Slifer (3500/3000)!"

Tea gasped, knowing that something bad was coming. "First I activate the terrible spell card, Infinite Cards!" He slipped a card depicting a pair of humans hands with an uncountable number of cards above them, into his Duel Disk. Slifer roared as it lost a thousand attack points. "Now there's no limit to the number of cards that either of us can hold."

"Then I'll activate the ultimate gamble card: Final Flip of Destiny!" The hologram of a puny demon holding a massive coin appeared behind Slifer. "If I toss heads, lets just say it's very good for me. If it's tails, I'm screwed."

"Why would you take such a gamble," said Tea cautiously. "Simple: I don't have to take one! That's where my third magic card comes in: Rig the Contest. By removing five cards in my graveyard from play, I can choose the result of a gamble card." "Crap," thought Tea.

"I remove Zure, Goldd, Brron, Kahkki and Scarr from play so that the result of Final Flip of Destiny will be heads!" The imp appeared and flung the coin up, and just when it was about to crash towards the ground, the imp kicked it so that it landed on heads. It stuck it's tongue out at Tea and disappeared.

"Excellent. Now for the effect. First, I have to subtract your life-points from mine: that's 19100 minus 2900, equals 16200. Then I have to round it off to the nearest multiple of a thousand, making 16000. For every thousand life points of difference, I can draw a card!" yelled Grimo triumphantly as he pulled a chunk of cards from the remaining in his deck slots. She did gain eight thousand life points, but even she knew what kind of trouble she was in now that Slifer (16500/16000) had attack points surpassed only by the legendary beasts that had infinite strength.

The almighty sky dragon's body crackled with lightning as it roared at Tea, who shivered.

Grimo smirked. "Now you're done. End turn."

Tea drew.

(Tea: 27600, Grimo: 2900)

One of the swords disappeared as Tea ended her turn in despair. If he didn't draw the card she needed within the next few turns, she was truly done for.

Grimo drew and looked at his card in disgust as Slifer (17500/17000) increased in strength. "Pass."

The second sword had disappeared. Tea drew and set one card face down, ending her turn.

Grimo smirked, knowing that Tea was one turn away from facing Slifer's true wrath. She couldn't play any monsters, as they'd probably have less than 2000 attack points, meaning that they'd be destroyed by Slifer's second mouth. "End turn."

(Tea: 29100, Grimo: 2900) (Slifer: 18500/18000)

The last sword disappeared, and Yugi gasped as Tea drew, increasing her life-points further. "There's only one card in her deck that can take out Slifer at this point. If she hasn't found a way to summon it now, Slifer will finish her." A tear fell to the ground.

Joey grabbed his friends shoulder, hoping with all his heart and soul that their mutual friend (in Yugi's case, anyone could tell it was more than that) had drawn the card she needed.

Tea gasped. "End turn."

Kevin continued laughing as the Grand Emperor Dragon's Solar Stream hurtled towards Kaiba's Blue-Eyes. Just before it was about to hit, the CEO's eyes flashed and he snarled, "Activate Shift, to shift the target of your attack to my Spirit Reaper!"

Kevin roared in rage as the zombie leapt in the way of the miniature sun, cackling all the while. There was a huge explosion, and by all rights the vile zombie should have been incinerated at that second. Only it's effect saved it, and as the smoke cleared it was still cackling at Kevin, even though it's purple robes were completely burnt away, and it's body was horribly charred. It's scythe, however, remained, although it was damaged.

Kevin trembled in rage as he almost screamed, "You're screwed next turn! Grand Dragon General, attack his Blue-Eyes with Spear of Dragon Mastery!" The golden statue arched back its arm and hurled its spear at the massive white dragon, who fired a white blast of energy at it's opponent in retaliation. But Kaiba knew the Blue-Eyes' attack was but one of display: with five hundred more attack points, the general could easily destroy his Blue-Eyes.

And it did. The spear tore through the blast and hit the dragon's heart, causing it to howl in pain before it was destroyed. Kevin smirked at Kaiba and ended his turn.

(Kaiba: 5700, Kevin: 2000)

Seto drew and switched his Blue Eyes defense mode before ending his turn. The metallic dragon fell onto all fours, growling at Kevin.

The blonde-haired teenager drew with a smirk and declared, "Say goodbye to the second of your precious dragons! Grand Emperor Dragon, attack with Solar Stream!" The golden monster opened its jaws wide as a ball of golden light began to build from within its jaws. The Grand Emperor Dragon unleashed a wave of burning light instantly destroyed the Blue-Eyes. The blast was so strong that for moment the whole dueling field was covered in blinding light.

Seto snarled as the light died down and glared at Kevin again, who said nastily, "Spirit Reaper isn't immune to magic, trap and monster effects. All it takes is a single monster removal card and you're done. End turn."

Seto drew and breathed, "There's nothing I can do. End turn."

Kevin drew and said with disgust, "Pass."

For his turn, Seto set a facedown card and left it at that.

Kevin drew and with a look of triumph on his face said, "IT'S OVER! ACTIVATE TRIBUTE TO THE DOOMED, DISCARDING ONE CARD TO DESTROY YOUR SPIRIT REAPER!"

He slid the two cards into his graveyard as a mummy appeared behind the zombie and pulled it to it's grave. "Now," he smirked at Kaiba.

"For my revenge! No longer will the name of the Hunter family be disgraced! I have regained my honor, and Marik will get your soul! Or not, as this attack will probably kill you. Grand Emperor Dragon, attack with Solar Stream!" The godly golden monster of revenge opened it's mouth and let out it's devastating miniature sun at Seto. Kevin whispered, "Game over."

It was only then that he noticed that Seto wasn't the least bit worried.

"I sacrifice Inazu to summon my third monarch! This one is especially powerful. Meet, Riser the Wind Monarch (2400 + 500 2900/1000)!" Inazu waved sarcastically at Jaden, before he disappeared, only to be replaced by a hulking green monster. It was very muscular, and it couldn't be seen too well as it was surrounded by dusty winds.

"Riser's effect states that if he's tribute summoned, one of your cards gets sent to the top of your deck." He pointed a finger at Avian. Riser nodded and rammed it's fists together, causing a burst of wind that blew Avian away. Jaden swallowed.

"Now Riser, show him your power and annihilate his pathetic monster!" Riser raised both it's hands and once again winds came in from all directions, shattering the Necroid Shaman. Jaden threw his hands in front of his face as the smoke spread.

"End turn. You're screwed, you fool!"

(Jaden: 1300, Darren: 2900)

Jaden gulped and drew. He smirked and said, "I guess I have to activate the card I had planning on saving for later. I activate my powerful spell card, Elemental Restoration, which increases my life-points by 200 times the combined level of all Elemental Heroes in my graveyard!" He pulled out a bunch of cards from his graveyard and after examining them for a moment, grinned at Darren. "They have a combined total of thirty stars, meaning I gain 6000 life points."

Darren frowned, but maintained his composure. "You're still at a disadvantage."

Jaden shrugged, threw a monster in defense, and ended his turn.

(Jaden: 7300, Darren: 2900)

Darren drew, his evil smirk returning. "Now things are back in my favor. I summon my vicious Goblin Elite Attack Force (2200 + 500 2700/1500) in attack mode!" A group of sliver-armored goblins appeared and crowed at Jaden, their swords flashing. Jaden gulped again.

"Goblin Elite Attack Force, slice his pathetic facedown to ribbons with Overrunning Fiends!" The large group of goblins scrambled across the field to Jaden's facedown, revealing it to be Elemental Hero Avian, which was, as Darren put it, sliced to ribbons.

"Riser, attack his life-points directly!" The wind monarch raised it's hand and a burst of winds hit Jaden, almost knocking him off his feet. He gasped slightly, and staggered from the force of the attack.

"My goblin's effect is that if he attacks this turn, he goes into defense mode and can't get out of it until the end of next turn. Lucky you."

(Jaden: 4400, Darren: 2900)

Jaden drew apprehensively, knowing that if he didn't get a good card, he was screwed. He drew and his face fell. "Damn. I place a defense monster and end my turn."

Darren chuckled at Jaden's glumness and said, "All right, Riser! Annihilate his pathetic monster!" The wind monarch raised it's hand and a burst of winds hit the hologram, destroying it. It was Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400).

He suddenly grinned and said, "I activate Tribute to the Doomed, which lets me discard a card from my hand to destroy a monster on the field. I choose Riser!"

"WHAT?!" yelled everyone in the common room. Why on earth would Darren destroy his own monarch?!

A mummy creeped up behind Riser and pulled him into the ground. The monarch went without a struggle. "From the surprised looks on your faces, you didn't see the significance of that move. I'll show you. I set one card face down and activate my the Card of Sanctity, which lets us draw until we have six cards in our hands." Jaden did so, but wondered exactly what Darren's move meant.

"Then I activate the terrible trap card, a card so powerful that Pegasus only made one copy, which was given as a prize to the winner of a special tournament only for monarch duelists. Naturally, I killed the winner and took the card. Let it be revealed: EMPEROR'S FURY!"

Ghostly images of Riser, Zaborg, and Mobius appeared and disappeared.

"I must remove three monarchs from my graveyard, and then pay a thousand life-points." Jaden raised an eyebrow. "Pretty high cost, huh?" Darren smirked. "But it's effect is unbeatable. You must discard every card in your hand."

"WHAT?!" gasped Jaden. Every onlooker was shocked as well. Jaden was a good duelist, but even he couldn't topdeck himself out of this kind of situation.

"Go ahead," smirked Darren. "Discard every one of those precious cards." Shaking with fear, Jaden had to comply.

A tear ran down Alexis' cheek as she watched Jaden slide his six cards into his graveyard slot. "_No, Jaden_, _please don't lose……"_

Zane watched this silently, although he was actually angrier than a fired up Cyber End Dragon. He didn't have any friends in particular, but he held Jaden in the highest regard. After he had overcome the stage where he was popularly known as the Hell Kaiser, Jaden had helped him recover from the horrors that he had faced. If anyone could be called a friend to him by others, it was Jaden.

Syrus was on the verge of tears, knowing there wasn't much hope for his friend. Sheppard was shocked, and even Dr. Crowler couldn't believe it. "That slacker: I can't believe it! Even he can't get himself out of this situation!"

Alexis ignored all this: she was lost in her own thoughts. "_I love you._"

Grimo continued his terrible laughter as he roared, "GO, SLIFER! ATTACK HER DIRECTLY!" Slifer formed a ball of energy in it's mouth that was larger than any before and with a terrible roar fired it at Tea. "Nooooooooo," yelled Joey and Yugi simultaneously.

The blast hit their friend and enveloped her. There was a massive explosion. The smoke spread throughout the site, and Joey fell to his knees, coughing. Yugi simply stared ahead, his eyes gleaming. The smoke began to clear. Grimo's laughter still rung in their ears.

They had expected to see Tea's life-points very low. They had expected to see her incinerated by the attack of the God. They had expected to see her wounded. They certainly hadn't expected to see her alive and well with 47600 life points.

"**_WHAT_**?!?!?!?!" yelled Grimo. "How can you still be in the game? How can you survived being attacked by a God with nearly twenty thousand attack points and come out with nearly fifty thousand life-points?!"

Tea smirked. "Simple. It's a trap card I like to call Draining Shield. It negates the attack of one of your monsters and adds it's ATK to my life-points, which gives me two more turns of safety. Bad luck," she chuckled.

Joey was cheering noisily, while Yugi simply looked at Tea. "Now it's my turn," proclaimed the angel duelist, and drew.

(Tea: 48100, Grimo: 2900)

"I activate the magic card, Card of Sanctity, to draw let us both draw until we have six cards. It's useless for you." She snapped the top few cards of her deck, giving her 1500 more life-points.

She smirked and said, "I activate Dream of Two Worlds!" A picture of a card with a field and a volcano appeared. "Till the end of the turn, it lets me play a field spell even when my opponent has one in play." She continued, "I activate my spell card, Sanctuary Reborn, which lets me bring back Sanctuary in the Sky till the end of the turn, at a cost of a thousand life-points."

The large sanctuary appeared above her, it's shining light in contrast to the dark energy of the Seal. Grimo exclaimed, "Ridiculous move!"

Tea glared and said, "This is my winning play. Then I activate Monster Reborn, to revive Airknight Parshath (1900/1400)!" The heavenly centaur appeared and at that second, Grimo yelled, "Activate Lightning Blast!" Slifer opened it's upper pair of jaws and fired a ball of lightning at the Airknight Parshath. Tea quickly countered, "Activate Card Guard! At the cost of a card from my hand, I can protect my Airknight from Slifer's attack."

A card appeared in front of the centaur and took the brunt of Slifer's blast. "Now, I'll end this, by sacrificing my Airknight to summon the ultimate angel! Meet the most powerful of them all, **_Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin_** (2300/2000)!"

The Airknight disappeared, only to be replaced by a heavenly warrior. It had white skin, and was clad it's torso was clad in blue and golden armor. It's legs were covered with feathers. It had a shining silver sword, with a golden shield. A golden ring attached to it's back extended into two majestic wings.

At that second, Slifer's Lightning Blast crashed into it, badly damaging it. It was covered in scratches, one wings was torn, and it's shield was broken. What's more, it's former decent strength was reduced to a mere three hundred.

Tea shook her head. "It doesn't matter, as long as he's still in play. Neo-Parshath is an agent of the Gods: the ultimate destroyer of evil, and envoy of light. He rivals Slifer in power. Only two conditions have to be met: Sanctuary in the Sky has to be on the field and my Life Points have to be higher than yours. Since both are met, you're doomed."

Neo-Parshath was suddenly repaired, and he was giving off a powerful white light. Glaring at Slifer, he readied his sword. "He gains the difference between our life-points."

"WHAT?!" screamed Grimo in terror. "Such a card of power is not possible! I can't lose to you! Not now! No, no, no, no, no!" Tea ignored him and said to Neo-Parshath (47000/48700) quietly, "End it, please, just end it."

The sky paladin nodded and leapt up, it's divine sword flashing. Slifer fired multiple energy balls at it, but all were dodged. One nearly hit, but the knight deflected it with his sword. However, he was knocked to the side. He landed against a building, and ran across it, dodging blasts all the time. He leapt up again and this time made his mark, his sword hitting the heart of the God.

Slifer roared in pain as strange blood began to flow out of the wound. Neo-Parshath pulled his sword out and leapt up, slicing the dragon god's head clean off. It disappeared.

(Grimo: 0, Tea: 49600)

Marik continued to reminisce about the Gods. Then was Ra: his favorite and the most powerful. It seemed to have no flaws. But Marik had used it, and had realized the simple truth that Yami had revealed to him: every monster has a flaw. Marik knew each of the god's flaws, so even if Yami was able to take them back, he would be prepared.

Speaking of gods…… There was _him_. A vile man, who would go as far to insult the true dark Gods by creating cheap imitations of them through his contacts. They were, in dueling, equal to the real Gods of light, but weren't real Ka. Simply cards. And that cheesed Marik off. Yes, it was time Marik paid Yakou Tenma a visit.

**Whew! Hope that was long enough. I'll be updating one more time before April the 16th, which marks the beginning of my exams. The one after that is in June, when I'm back from my holiday. Thanks for reading.**

**I'm too lazy to mention the large number of original cards now: I'll do it next chapter. See you then, and of course, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	18. Let the Battle Begin, Part 1

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The Battle Begins

**Princess Yuriana: Thanks a lot. I'm expecting to do okay anyway, I got a GPA of 3.4 last time.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: You're right. Tea deserves more action; after all, she is a very main character. In the anime, it's mostly Yugi, Joey and Kaiba (no complaints for this one). On the other account, you're wrong. The Sacred Beasts were created by Kagemaru, while Yakou Tenma created the Dark Devil Gods from the manga, YuGiOh R. Check out janime.info for episode summaries. As for Marik's victims, I like em' evil. Thanks a lot.**

**On with the story!**

Yakou brushed a strand of whit hair from his eyes. With a sigh, he leaned back against his chair. He was sitting in a fairly large mansion that his mentor, Pegasus had bought for him in Tokyo. He was Japanese, and had wanted to spend his remaining days at home. But he couldn't do it peacefully. A little something was bugging him. The things on his desk.

On his desk were the three dark gods that he had manufactured in his mentor's factory for his own purposes. They rivaled the Egyptian gods in every way, but simply as cards. They weren't real Egyptian Shadow creatures or Ka: simply cards with incredible powers that Yakou had invented to defeat Yugi Moto's gods, in the belief that the dueling prodigy had caused the 'death' of Pegasus.

The three dark gods advertised his weakness. He wasn't able to avenge his mentor's death without three cards of incredible, almost unfair power. They had ruined his life. All his hatred and anger had been forced into those three cards, and now they were coming back to haunt him.

He could have destroyed them, but he didn't. He hated them with all his being, but in his heart of hearts he knew that he couldn't. They were a part of him. And they would stay that way.

With a yell he slammed his fist down on the desk. It shook slightly. So did the cards. He stared at them and screamed, "_Why? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!" _ The monsters on the cards looked emotionlessly back, almost mocking him.

Suddenly he heard a scream of absolute terror. Broken out of his reverie, he subconsciously slipped the three cards into his pocket and left the room. He recognized his butler's voice coming from the hall below. It was begging for mercy. "Please, I'll give you anything you want-…. No, no, please…" It was cut off by an anguished scream of pain, followed by a bout of maniacal laughter. Any person in their right mind would had grabbed a cell phone and locked themselves in the most impenetrable place in the house.

But not Yakou. He reached his hand into his pocket and felt the semi-automatic pistol in there. Let them come. He needed to get his frustrations off his chest.

He heard footsteps walking towards the stairs. He didn't even peek over to look at the person. They continued up the stairs. Yakou didn't say anything. The person showed himself and grinned at Yakou, who gasped, "You!"

The man smirked. "Oh. I'm surprised you know me. Where have you seen me before?" Yakou snarled, "You're that psychopath, Marik Ishtar. I saw you in the footage of the Battle City finals."

Marik grinned. "Ten points to you, Yakou." His spiky white hair covered a bit of his forehead as he held up his Millennium Rod. "You're servants were easy to deal with. Except for the butler. He put up quite a fight, that one did."

At that second, Yakou pulled out the gun and pointed it at Marik. "Don't move. Unless you want to die." Marik smirked and waved his arm. Yakou snarled and fired. To his shock, the bullet disappeared in mid air in a puff of smoke. With another yell he fired five more bullets. All disappeared.

Marik smirked. "See? You're little gun won't help you. In fact, I could kill you or send you to the Shadow Realm at this instant. But where's the fun in that? I have a far more interesting idea. We'll duel. You're reward is your life."

Yakou considered. The reward sure sounded good, considering what Marik had done to his servants. But why did he want to duel him? Yakou didn't really care. It would be more fun to use his monsters to kill this freak. He could really take out his frustrations on Marik. Even if he lost, did it really matter? He didn't really have anything to live for.

He flung the gun of the landing. It hit a crystal window on the opposite wall, which shattered. Keeping his eyes on Marik, he slowly backed into his room and got his Duel Disk. He slipped his deck in and without knowing why, he put the three dark gods in. Using them one more time wouldn't make him feel any worse.

When he got back, Marik was leaning against the wall, examining the banister. "Fine wood, that is," he commented, activating his duel disk.

Yakou ignored him and fired out of holographic projectors. One landed in the alcove above a door on the ground floor, and the second on the arch in the entrance to his house.

"Let's duel!"

(Yakou: 8000, Marik: 8000)

Kaiba smirked at the oncoming Solar Stream and said, "Sorry, I activate one of the most powerful trap cards in the game, Ring of Destruction!" Kevin screamed, "Noooooo!"

A large ring with many explosives attached on its sides then appeared. It then flew up and stretched out to squeeze over the head of the large dragon. The stream of energy from it's mouth disappeared, and it let out a loud roar, knowing its fate was now sealed.

Kevin cried out "No, it can't be!"

Seto smirked. "It can." His words were drowned by the titanic explosion of the Ring of Destruction, followed by the final, haunting roar of the Grand Emperor Dragon, before it was blown apart.

Both Seto and Kevin protected themselves with their hands as the golden armor of Kevin's dragon melted into golden lava and scorched the floor. The Seal began to contract, this time around no one in particular.

"Your monster had infinite attack points, therefore we both lost infinite life-points. Since both our life-points hit zero, the match was a draw, and the Seal took neither of us," chuckled Seto. The Grand Dragon General disappeared as well as the Duel Disks deactivated.

Kevin was shaking in rage as the smoke cleared. "You…..you...you-…." he snarled. Seto didn't answer. Kevin leapt across the field, his arm outstretched in a punch. Seto sidestepped and surprisingly, didn't counter. Kevin whirled to the side and was about to throw another one, when he stopped midway.

It was as if the young man had stopped involuntarily. He slowly straightened up and glared at Seto. "You're lucky that you survived this time. I'll be back: and next time I'll make sure that I avenge my father!"

Seto glared back, an equally dark expression on his face. "I don't think so. You have to tell me where my brother is." Kevin smirked, but the fury didn't leave his features. "The terms of the duel were that you _won_ the duel, I would reveal your brother's whereabouts. You barely survived. If you hadn't drawn Ring of Destruction, you would be finished by now."

Before Seto could answer, a whirring was heard above them and the CEO peered upwards to see a helicopter hovering above the hole. A rope ladder fell out of it, clean into the hole, right next to Kevin. The blonde waved and climbed onto it.

Seto roared in fury and leapt forward, but the helicopter had already flown higher, meaning Kevin was out of his reach. "YOU LIAR!" screamed Seto, all his rage and hatred pouring out in those two words. Kevin smirked back and was then out of sight. Just then, the sirens of police cars were heard.

Yakou went first. "I set a facedown monster and end my turn."

Marik raised an eyebrow. "And I thought you were the man who used his dark gods to defeat Seto Kaiba." Yakou snarled but said nothing.

The wielder of the true dark Gods examined his hand and said, "I summon Drillago (1600/1100)!" A humanoid machine appeared. It was rusty-gray in color, with drills instead of limbs. It buzzed when it saw Yakou. "It's effect is only applicable when you have a face-up monster, so I'll place a facedown card and end my turn."

Yakou drew and said, "I flip my Summon Priest (800/1600)!" The hologram of the brown-backed card disappeared and was replaced by a wizened old man dressed in a blue robe. He had a long beard and his face was hidden by a blindfold. He wore a small cap.

Marik smirked. "Your priest may be a priest, but he's only got a pathetic eight hundred attack points. It's worthless." Yakou smirked back for the first time. "I think not. It's effect is what really matters. It lets me discard a spell card from my hand to summon a level four monster from my deck! I'll discard Everlasting Sacrifice to summon Seraphim Saber (1600/1500) in attack mode!"

An angel dressed in a white robe appeared. Two massive wings spread out and it raised a golden javelin. It began to sing, a both beautiful and haunting sound. Marik smirked. No monster was too unnerving for him. After all, Yakou had committed all his crimes for what he thought was a good cause. Marik did it purely for self-gain and for his hate of others.

"Next I'll sacrifice it to summon my powerful beast, the Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!" The angel disappeared and was replaced by a massive fiend. It had purplish skin, with two large wings. It's head was a skull.

"What would such a fiend be doing in an angel deck?" questioned Marik, while raising an eyebrow.

"You fool. I wield the dark gods. Since they are dark gods, they are masters of all. That's why my deck is so diverse. To make it simple: my deck is a deck of angels and demons," smirked Yakou.

Marik yawned and said, "It's all really fascinating, but I don't care. Make your move." Yakou narrowed his eyes and snarled, "Summoned Skull, attack his pathetic machine with Lightning Strike!" The fiendish skeleton fired a massive ball of lightning at Drillago. It crashed into it, obliterating the machine. At that second, a card was thrown out of Yakou's graveyard.

"Everlasting Sacrifice is the magic card version of the powerful Sinister Serpent (300/300). Pegasus made it especially for me." Marik checked a pretend watch in mock boredom.

"One card facedown. End turn," echoed the hollow voice.

(Yakou: 8000, Marik: 7100)

Marik smirked, "I'm not really impressed. All you've done is summon a monster with twenty-five hundred attack points. I'll show you what the real battle is all about." He drew and smirked. "I activate my continuous spell card, Voice of Hell! It's effect will be quite troublesome for you, I'll say that much."

He pointed at Yakou's hand. "This little nuisance of a card first states that you must separate the monsters in your hand from the magic and trap cards." Yakou flicked two cards into one hand, and three into the other, and jerked the one with three in it: indicating that it contained his monsters.

"Then I must choose two types of monsters from all of them. All monsters of that type are special-summoned onto my field." His smirk widened. "And since you were so kind as to tell me that you run angels and demons, or in technical terms fairies and fiends, I'm set."

He roared with laughter as he said, "I declare the monster types of fairies and fiends." Yakou snarled as all three of his cards were pulled out of his hand by an invisible force and landed on Marik's Duel Disk. One by one, they appeared. First was an Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500). The purple-robed fiend snarled at its former master, who looked on impassively. Next was the Dark Ruler Ha Des (2450/1600). The fiend was the tall and powerful form of the blue skinned demon that ruled the realm of the Underworld. This was Dark Ruler Ha Des in all his glory. The last one was a fairy. It was The Agent of Wisdom – Mercury (0/1700), a green angel with large wings, grasping an ancient tome.

Marik smirked. "And now that I have three monsters on the field……." Yakou gasped. "You plan to summon a god!"

Marik plucked the three monsters of his Duel Disk. "I was hoping for a challenge, and I'm able to summon one of my ultimate creatures on my first turn! Pathetic. Meet Obelisk the Tormentor (4000/4000)!"

The two fiends and the angel disappeared and were replaced by a gigantic blue monster rose up from the shadows. It was vaguely humanoid, but had two massive wings. Its eyes were shining red. Comparatively small horns rose from its head, and it had blue spikes on its elbows as well as it's shoulders. It appeared on the ground floor, and as it was summoned, it's massive shoulders hit the roof, destroying it.

It's titanic arms stretched out, smashing the walls of the house. Rubble fell from all directions. Marik and Yakou would have been easily killed, if the evil spirit had not created a barrier around the duel with his Rod. The house was collapsing due to Obelisk's might. The landing was destroyed, but Marik used his Rod to float them down to the floor. Yakou ignored the destruction of his mansion, choosing only to stare at Obelisk. When the destruction was over, they were out in the open, surrounded by rubble and debris. Yakou's house was on a hill, so Obelisk had scared quite a few animals away.

Marik chuckled. "I won this cards from the pathetic Pharaoh after defeating him in a duel. I'm one of the few people in the world you can use it. Now it will kill you! Attack his pathetic Summon Priest with Fist of Fury!" The blue god raised a burning fist and brought it down on the useful effect monster. It cried out in pain as it was crushed by the boundless power of a god.

Marik smirked as Obelisk straightened up and glared at Yakou, who looked back emotionlessly. "End turn."

Yakou drew and switched his Summoned Skull to defense mode. He summoned a monster in defense mode, placed a three facedown cards and ended his turn.

Marik smirked at his opponents move. Too pathetic. "I activate Stop Defense, to switch your Summoned Skull into attack mode!" The fiend rose up and growled at Obelisk. If it hadn't been an inappropriate thing for a god to do, Obelisk would have yawned.

"Then I'll equip Obelisk with Megamorph, doubling his ATK to eight thousand!" Obelisk roared and was about to grow when Yakou's eyes flashed and he snarled, "I think not! Activate Magic Jammer, which lets me discard a card from my hand to negate one of your magic cards!" Purple smoke flew up around Obelisk, halting his growth. Yakou slid a card into the graveyard. "So what?" scoffed Marik.

"Obelisk still has four thousand attack points, easily enough to take you down. It set one card facedown. Attack with Fist of Fury!" Yakou smirked again. "I anticipated such a play. Now the card I discarded will help me from the grave! Return to me, Beast of Gilfer (2200/2500)!"

The spirit of a massive, winged fiend appeared and disappeared into Obelisk's body. "When it's sent to the graveyard, it reduces the ATK of one of your monsters by five hundred."

"But Obelisk is a god," argued Marik. "It can't be harmed by effects of your mortal demons." "That's where my facedown card comes in," smirked Yakou.

"Reign of Equality lets me remove all immunities of a monster to other monster effects till the end of turn." As Obelisk's fist continued to sail towards the Summoned Skull, Marik smirked, "It's still got thirty-five hundred attack points. More than enough to take out your fiend."

Yakou pressed a button on his Duel Disk, revealing his last card. "I activate my trap card, Arrival of Reinforcements. This lets me play an equip spell card from my hand as if it were a quick-play card. I play Axe of Despair, increasing my Summoned Skull's ATK by 1000!" The Summoned Skull roared as it's ATK shot up to 3500, matching Obelisk.

"Counter-attack with Lightning Strike!" The fiend fired a massive ball of lightning at the oncoming God. Marik countered swiftly. "I activate my quick-play spell card, Class System, which prevents Obelisk from being destroyed by a monster with less stars than him! Since they still have the same ATK, your Summoned Skull is still destroyed."

The ball of lightning harmlessly exploded on Obelisk's fist, which continued onwards, destroying the mighty beast. Marik smirked. "Two cards facedown. End turn." Obelisk's ATK returned to 4000, as Yakou's trap protected it for only a single turn.

Yakou drew and a dark look appeared across his face. "I activate Monster Reborn, to revive my Summoned Skull." The demon appeared and glared at Marik. "Then I'll activate Dark Spell Regeneration, to bring back Monster Reborn, and I'll use it again to revive my Summon Priest."

The priest appeared next to the fiend and looked emotionlessly at it's master's opponent. "Now meet my god! I sacrifice my three monsters to summon Wicked God Dreadroot (4000/4000)!" The priest, the fiend and the facedown card disappeared. Dark clouds began to swirl above the two duelists. Yakou began to laugh as he slapped the card onto his Duel Disk.

There seemed to be a minor earthquake, about a 2.5. As Yakou laughed, a terrible creature exploded out of thin air. It looked like the Summoned Skull, except even the fiend didn't look so horrible. It had green skin, with massive plates of bone on it's shoulder. Horns spread out from both its shoulders and elbows. It had two massive wings, and it's face was similar to the Summoned Skull, except with a bone helmet. It was exactly the same size as the opposing god.

A normal man would have been terrified by the creature, but Marik was disgusted. "So your 'god' has risen. It's nothing but a cheap card! I WILL CRUSH IT!" He glared at Dreadroot, who stared impassively back. Obelisk roared at it.

Yakou snarled, "I hate this monster with all my heart, but it is a part of me, and it will defeat you! Activate special ability, Fear Domination!" Dark energy began to flow off Dreadroot's body. It hit Marik's field, and to his shock, Obelisk's ATK was halved to a mere two thousand! "What's going on?!" snarled Marik.

"Dreadroot's effect is going on," said Yakou nastily. "It halves the ATK of all monsters on the field except itself. So say goodbye to Obelisk. Attack with Dread Fist!" Dreadroot raised it's fist and dark winds began to swirl around it. With a roar, it rammed it into the opposing god. Marik reacted swiftly. "Activate Negate Attack, ending your Battle Phase and protecting Obelisk from Dreadroot!"

Yakou snarled and said, "Fine. I activate the Card of Sanctity." Both duelists drew until they held six cards. "I set three cards facedown and end my turn."

As Marik drew, Obelisk was back to it's original strength of four thousand. "Dreadroot is the exact opposite of Obelisk as a card, meaning they're both tier two gods. Therefore Dreadroot's effect will only affect Obelisk during your turn," smirked Marik.

"Obelisk, attack Dreadroot with Fist of Fury!" Yakou was shocked. Why would Marik want to kill both their monsters? "I activate the quick-play spell card, Rush Recklessly, granting Obelisk 700 extra attack points!" Obelisk (4700/4000) roared as it's ATK soared to a level higher than Seto Kaiba's Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, as it's fist was about to hit Dreadroot.

"I activate Dark Wall of Air, protecting Dreadroot from the attack of Obelisk!" Black winds sprung up around the devilish god, blocking Obelisk's fist. "I'll counter that with Dust Tornado, destroying your card!" countered Marik.

A tornado of dusty winds crashed into the Dark Wall of Air, threatening to destroy it. Yakou wasn't done. "I'll chain Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying Dust Tornado and allowing Dark Wall of Air to succeed!"

Marik growled in frustration but snarled, "I'll counter with Magic Jammer, discarding a card to negate your Dust Tornado!" Purple smoke began to rise up around the fading Dark Wall of Air and the two tornadoes. "Say goodbye to Dreadroot!" said Marik triumphantly. Yakou smirked. "All those cards have been wasted. Chain final trap card, Trap Jammer, which lets me discard one card from my hand to negate Magic Jammer!"

The chain resolved in reverse order. Trap Jammer to activated, negating Magic Jammer and letting Mystical Space Typhoon activate, destroying Dust Tornado and letting Dark Wall of Air succeed.

The dark winds sprang up in full force, completely halting Obelisk's attack. The god withdrew its fist, and Dreadroot snarled at the retreating god. Marik set a facedown card and ended his turn.

Yakou drew, and Obelisk's power was immediately halved. Dreadroot roared and Yakou was about to declare an attack when Marik pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "Activate Reverse Trap, which will increase Obelisk's strength by the same amount by which it was decreased till the end of the turn!" (6000/4000) Obelisk's body crackled with blue energy and it growled at Dreadroot, who backed away.

Yakou sighed, knowing that he would be able to defeat Obelisk the next turn. "End turn."

As Marik drew, Obelisk's strength was back to its normal four thousand. It roared at Dreadroot, who growled back angrily. Marik shook his head. He was getting tired of this. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yakou drew and said, "My dark god's effect will reduce Obelisk's attack by half."

The other god's power fell just as indicated; leaving it easy prey for Dreadroot's soon to come attack. "Dreadroot, destroy his god once and for all with Dread Fist!" Dreadroot raised his fist as the dark energies swirled around it, and this plunged it towards Obelisk. Marik smirked. "We've wasted quite a few good cards. I've had enough. Activate Revival of Power, returning Obelisk to it's original strength of four thousand."

Yakou gasped as Obelisk raised it's fist and rammed it at Dreadroot. "Both gods will be destroyed and nothing will be accomplished!" Marik nodded. "I was getting tired of the little clash."

The two gods were grappling with each other, butting heads as Obelisk rammed his fist into the other's gut. Dreadroot's wing came down out of nowhere and scratched Obelisk's shoulder. They broke apart, and both rammed their fists together. Obelisk fired a blast of powerful blue energy at Dreadroot, who in turn countered with it's unholy black flame. The two attacks clashed, and the heat began to affect the gods.

Cracks lined their bodies, but neither was willing to give up. Suddenly, they both crumbled into dust, leaving the field bare. Marik smirked. "So much for them."

Darren smirked as Jaden discarded his entire hand. The E-hero duelist glared at him the entire time as Darren ended his turn.

With a shaking hand, Jaden drew. A worthless magic card. Damn. "End turn."

Darren drew and said, "I summon Skull Servant (300 + 500 800/200), which luckily for you is a weak monster." A skeleton dressed in a purple robe appeared. Everyone stared. Darren seemed a very good duelist. Why did he have such a pathetic creature?

"Attack his life-points with Skeletal Strike!" The skeleton leapt over and tried to punch Jaden. It hit his shoulder, but he didn't react. "End turn."

(Jaden: 3600, Darren: 2900)

Jaden drew and said, "I summon Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000)!" The green-feathered monster appeared. "Attack his monster." Darren smirked as Avian punched the skeleton, shattering it.

(Jaden: 3600, Darren: 2200)

"End turn," said Jaden uneasily.

Darren smirked and said, "I summon another Skull Servant, this time in defense mode." Another skeleton appeared. As soon as his turn began, Jaden destroyed it with Avian. He knew that there had to be some kind of ulterior motive to Darren's moves, but he now had time to replenish his hand.

Darren drew and said, "I tire of this. I activate the key card of my strategy, Dark Death of Fiends. I can remove all monsters in my deck that have a particular word of my choice in their name, and I gain 500 life-points for each. I declare the word 'skull', sending my remaining Skull Servant and the two King of the Skull Servants in my deck to the graveyard, granting me 1500 life-points."

(Jaden: 4100, Darren: 3700)

"Finally, I summon the monster of your demise! Meet _King of the Skull Servants _(?/0)!"

"Okay….." thought Jaden as darkness began to creep into the dueling field. "Majorly creepy."

A ghostly form rose up from Darren's field. It looked exactly like the Skull Servant, except it was much bigger, and was standing on a pile of corpses. The Orichalcos symbol glowed on it's forehead "The cornerstone of my beatdown strategy, King of the Skull Servants can be devastating. I'll tell you why: it gains 1000 attack points for every King of the Skull Servants and Skull Servant in my graveyard! Don't forget the extra 500 thanks to the Seal."

Jaden gasped as the King of the Skull Servants (5500/0) reached a terrible level of power. "You don't see it, do you? I knew that you would be able to topdeck your way out of the effects of my Emperor's Fury trap card. So I decided to build up my little groupie in the graveyard so that sunshine on my field can kill you. He can be quite a nice dude, you just didn't know him for long enough. Now, time to end it! Attack with Death Strike!"

The King of the Skull Servants' eyes glowed red as ghostly spirits began to float around. With a cry of their master, the spirits all sped towards Jaden, even as Alexis screamed, "Noooooo!"

Suddenly, everything went white for Jaden. Everything disappeared: Darren, the monsters, the Truesdale brothers, Alexis, everything…..

He looked around, as if he had woken from a long sleep. A voice rumbled, "Jaden Yuki…." The Slifer Red wonder jumped. "Umm…. whose there?"

"My name does not matter. We are here to discuss your destiny. Currently you are facing Darren Hirugashi in a duel that will determine your fate as well as the fate of your friends. Including Alexis Rhodes." Jaden paled, "Alexis…" The voice almost chuckled. "So, you have feelings for her?" Jaden flushed but said quietly, "I'll be honest. I love her." The voice was silent for a while, and then said, "In that case, you had better win that duel."

"But I can't…." began Jaden, as everything began to spin. The voice chuckled, "Remember Alexis……"

And then Jaden was back in his body. Everything was back to how it was, and the King of Skull Servants' spirits were racing towards Avian. Without thinking he said, "Activate quick-play spell card, Chance or Fate!" He slid the card into his Duel Disk. "This lets me select three magic cards from my deck, and the one you choose is activated!" He pulled out his deck. The spirits paused, unsure of what to do.

Jaden held up three cards. "Choose." Darren carelessly pointed at the middle card. Jaden grinned and said, "You shouldn't have been so reckless! It's going to cost you, for I activate Block Attack, shifting my monster into defense mode!" Avian fell onto his knees as the spirits tore it apart. They then retreated. Darren snorted.

"You saved yourself for one turn. It doesn't make a difference." Jaden shook his head. "One turn can make all the difference…"

He looked over his shoulder and smiled encouragingly at Alexis. He then turned back and said confidently, "Draw."

He slid two cards into his Duel Disk. "One defense monster, and a facedown card. End turn."

Darren roared with laughter. "How pathetic! Now it's time for it to end. King of Skull Servants, attack with Death Strike!"

Before the spirits could destroy his card, Jaden smirked. "That's where you made your mistake! Activate quick-play magic card, Transcendent Wings! For that, I'll have to reveal my monster, which is Winged Kuriboh (300/200)!" A brown furball with yellow eyes and angelic wings was revealed.

"Sucker," muttered Darren.

"By sending to the Graveyard my Winged Kuriboh on the field and two cards from my hand, I can Special Summon a new monster from my deck…Winged Kuriboh LV 10 (300/200)!" yelled Jaden.

The four cards were sent to the graveyard, and the Winged Kuriboh began to glow a bright white. "What in the heck is going on?" Darren cried, bewildered, as he put up his arms to shield his eyes from the brightness. Then, by and by, the light subsided. Jan managed to peek up…and he stared in utter awe. "No way…"

Over on Jaden's side of the field was a creature with massive white wings. It had a half-feathery, half-leathery body, and a very long tail. Its chest appeared to resemble the Winged Kuriboh that it was previously. From it's entire being shone great light, but now it wasn't so bright that one couldn't look at it. "By sacrificing this guy, I can destroy all monsters on your side of the field and deal you inflict damage equal to those monsters' combined ATK, meaning you lose 5500 life-points! It's over!"

Winged Kuriboh LV 10 suddenly exploded in a shower of burning sparks – sparks that incinerated everything on Darren's side of the field, and even Darren himself. The King of Skull Servants shrieked as it was destroyed. Darren's life-points hit zero.

Jaden fell to his knees as the Seal began to contract around Darren, who suddenly began to laugh madly. "Do you think I would let myself be finished off by you?" He raised his hand, to reveal a ring with a green stone in it. He rammed it into the Seal, shattering it. Everyone was thrown back by the explosion of power.

"This Orichalcos stone is only given to the most powerful servants in the employ of Marik and Dartz. It gives me a second chance, being one of the two ways to destroy the Seal of Orichalcos." He stood up in a flourish, glaring at Jaden. "I'll get you next time, Jaden Yuki. You will not escape me."

Before anyone could say anything, he had done a back-flip out of the window. He was still laughing maniacally. Zane rushed over to the window and looked out. "He's gone," he said flatly. But Sheppard and Crowler had already left, desperate to capture Darren. Zane put a hand on his little brother's shoulder. "Let's go." Syrus didn't object as the two left the room, leaving Jaden and Alexis alone.

There was no talking. Silently, Alexis buried her face in Jaden's shoulder, as the two embraced. Alexis cried silently, as Jaden simply stared at the window, at the place where the man who had nearly taken his life had escaped. A muffled voice came from the Obelisk Blue duelist. "I love you, Jaden Yuki."

Normally, Jaden would have fainted. Instead, he simply answered, "I love you too."

**Whooo! Jaden/Alexis forever! And Darren's too cool to lose his soul! I hope you'll liked the Triple Threat of Doom, cuz' I really liked writing it, especially Grimo vs. Tea. As for the Yakou vs. Marik duel, things are just warming up. REVIEW!!!!!!!!! Please, this is another milestone. 150 pages, 75,000 words, and 1500 reads! If I get about four or five reviews for this chapter, I'll try and update one more before May. I'm serious. With that in mind, REVIEW!!!!!!!**

**P.S. I swear I'll do the original cards next time. I'm realty exhausted, lol. **


	19. Let the Battle Begin, Part 2

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Let the Battle Begin, Part 2

**BEWK: Thanks for the review. Hope you like this one too.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Once again, you flatter me……… Keep reading. By the way, in which chapter of 'Dark Messiah' were the monarchs in?**

**On with the story!**

Marik smirked at the furious look on Yakou's face. "I take it that you miss your god?" he teased. Yakou glared at him and ended his turn. He had been tossed around badly by the attack, and wasn't in a good mood.

Marik drew and said, "I summon Genetic Werewolf (2000/100) in attack mode!" The powerful werewolf that Marik had used against Yami roared at Yakou, who ignored it. "One card facedown. End turn."

Yakou drew. "I summon Mars, Agent of War (2000/0) in attack mode!" A purple-skinned angel appeared. It had large, white wings, and was clad in golden armor. It held a massive spear and shield, with a broadsword strapped to it's back. It stared at the werewolf, it's eyes shining.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

The duel was more or less even, with both players having lost a God, having a monster with two thousand attack points and a facedown card.

Marik drew. "Fool. I activate the trap card, PYRAMID OF LIGHT!" The massive white pyramid appeared, covering the entire area and blocking out everything outside the duel. "What's this?" Yakou narrowed his eyes. "You'll see…….," chuckled Marik darkly.

"I now pay 1000 life-points to special summon the terrible beasts, Andro Sphinx (3000/2500) and Sphinx Teleia (2500/3000), both in attack mode!" The massive sphinxes appeared, one bipedal and with the head of a massive lion, and the other quadruple and with the head of a woman. They screeched at Yakou, the Genetic Werewolf slightly augmenting their massive strength. "Luckily for you, they can't attack this turn. So I'll set a facedown and end my turn."

Yakou drew and glared at the sphinxes. "My angels are far more powerful than you think. I'll show you the true power of Mars!" He held up a card and slid it into the magic/trap card slot of his Duel Disk. "Normally, Mars is a normal, two thousand attack power beatstick. But now that I've equipped him with the Mandate of Justice, a powerful magic card that can only be used on him."

Mars suddenly threw his spear aside and drew his sword. It shimmered with vibrant purple energy. The three beasts continued to snarl as Mars began to change. He grew small, pointed ears, and a long mop of blonde hair. He looked more like an elf than an angel. Marik snorted. "You've stylized you're weakling. So what? I suppose the makeover is going to scare away my sphinxes," he said sarcastically.

"When Mars is equipped with this card, he first gains 1000 attack points." Mars (3000/0) was now stronger than any level four monster in the game. "Then he gains 200 attack points for monster on your field." He smirked. "Mars, attack his pathetic Andro Sphinx with Sword of War!"

The angel of war raised his sword and with a casual flick, flames erupted from it and sped towards the massive sphinx, threatening to consume it. At the last second, Marik smirked. "Sorry, I activate Wabuko, saving my sphinx from your attack." Three robed mages appeared and blocked the flames, saving Marik.

Yakou maintained his composure and said quietly. "It doesn't matter. Mars has thirty-six hundred attack points, so unless you summon something with higher attack points that _that_, you're definitely going to lose. End turn."

Marik drew and smirked. "You've already faced two powerful sphinxes: time to face the third. I sacrifice Genetic Werewolf for this: meet Black Night's Sphinx (2500/0)!" The wolf disappeared, only to be replaced by a smaller, black version of the Andro Sphinx. It was bipedal, and had two large wings. It's eyes shone red.

"Black Night's Sphinx gains 700 attack points for every card with the word 'sphinx' on the field. I count two, so say goodbye to your angel. Attack with Black Strike of the Sphinx!" The terrible beast screeched and disemboweled the angel with a single slash of its claws. As Mars cried in pain, it's sword shone and a bolt of energy hit Yakou. "When Mars is destroyed, all other damage during the turn is reduced to zero," said Yakou grimly.

"Fine," shrugged Marik. "One facedown. End turn."

(Marik: 6100, Yakou: 7500)

Yakou drew and smirked. "Just the card I was hoping for." He slid a card into his Duel Disk. "Activate Soul Release. I can use it to remove up to five cards from either graveyard from play, but I only need to remove three. Say goodbye to Mars, Mercury and Ha Des." Transparent images of the two angels and the king of the underworld appeared and disappeared, giving a long, painful cry each.

"Then I activate the powerful spell card, Dimension Fusion. By paying two thousand life-points, both of us can summon as many monsters as possible that have been removed from play. Since you have no monsters removed from play, only I benefit from my spell. I'll resummon Mercury (0/1700), Mars (2000/0) and Ha Des (2450/1600)."

The three monsters reappeared. "I fail to see how a couple of winged idiots and a demon who thinks he's scary will help you against my three sphinxes, you're wron-…." Marik stopped.

"So, you're summoning another god, eh?" Yakou snarled and said, "Consider this payback for this hellish experience. I summon my second most powerful dark god, The Devil's Eraser (X000/X000)!!"

The angels and the fiend disappeared, and the already dark sky became even stormier. Cracks began to appear beneath Marik, as lightning struck the ground next to him. He regarded all this with almost laughable negligence, instead keeping his eyes fixed on the ground behind the hill. Darkness was gathering there, and he could hear distant screams of terror. He ignored them: after all, he had caused things far worse than those.

But still, this Devil's Eraser would surely be impressive. A long, serpentine shape began to take form in the darkness. The darkness began to crackle an electric blue as a screech sounded. Marik tensed himself as the gargantuan beast swung out of the shadows, roaring at Marik.

Yakou was laughing, but Marik ignored him. The new beast reminded him of Slifer the Sky Dragon, although it was a far more devilish version of it. It was grayish-black in color, with plates of armor protecting it's entire body. Its serpentine form disappeared into the shadows, and continued on until it's large abdomen, which had two purple jewels at the base of it's comparatively small, clawed arms. Its face was strange: it had a large, muzzle, with two glowing red eyes. Two curled up horns extended from it's head.

"This," said Yakou quietly. "Is the dark version of Slifer the Sky Dragon. Fear it's wrath for whatever time you have remaining. The Devil's Eraser will end it all: both the duel and your life." Marik yawned, enraging the other duelist.

"My dark god has 1000 attack and defense points for every card on your field," he raised a finger to point at the three sphinxes and the facedown card. The Devil's Eraser (5000/5000) was now stronger than Obelisk, and Yakou was sure that he would soon be able to win it all. "Finally I'll activate Soul Rope, letting me pay 1000 life-points so that the both of us can summon one level four or lower monster from our decks to the field."

His life-points dropped to 6500 as he sifted through his deck and set a monster in defense mode. Marik did the same, increasing Eraser's ATK and DEF to a very deadly 6000.

"Attack his Black Night's Sphinx with Death Cannon!" The sinuous beast screeched again and opened it's mouth. Black flames began to form as Marik grimaced. The massive amount of energy exploded out in a vortex of dark power, crashing into Marik's sphinx. It never stood a chance. Not a single cry was heard as every atom of the unfortunate hybrid was blasted out of existence.

Eraser's stats dropped back to five thousand as Yakou ended his turn.

(Marik: 4000, Yakou: 6500)

Marik drew, threw a facedown monster and another card facedown. After switching his two sphinxes to defense mode, he ended his turn. Eraser's stats shot up to a gigantic seven thousand.

Yakou drew and didn't bother looking at the card. "You will now fall at the hands of my terrible god!" Marik answered, smirking, "Terrible as in bad, or terrible as in lousy? I 'd say it's the second one."

Yakou was trembling with rage as he pointed at Andro Sphinx. "**_DON'T MAKE FUN OF ME!!!!!_**" Eraser hissed in fury as if to back up it's master and blasted it's unholy black flame at the blonde sphinx.

Marik continued to smirk. "Keh, do you honestly think I'd let you destroy my sphinx so easily? I activate Shift, to redirect your 'god's' attack to my facedown monster." The card flipped over to reveal a Thunder Nyan-Nyan (1900/800), which jumped in the way of the blast and was incinerated. Eraser roared as it's stats were back down to five thousand. "End turn."

Marik drew, and thought to himself.

"_Interesting situation. I've got three monsters protecting me. His monster has 5000 attack points. I'll have to be a little careful. But I've got the perfect strategy for killing it……"_

"I set one card facedown, as well as a monster in defense. End turn."

Eraser was back at seven thousand, and once again Yakou drew and ordered it to attack. This time the target was Sphinx Teleia. Eraser snapped open it's jaws and once again the unholy black flames plummeted towards Marik's field. Marik shook his head. "Activate trap card Total Defense Barrier, doubling the defense points of one of my monsters till the end of my opponent's Battle Phase."

Yakou snarled, "No matter!", as the Sphinx Teleia (2500/6000) doubled in size. "Next I'll activate the quick-play spell card Complimentary Protection, which will increase the defense of one monster on my field by it's level multiplied by 100!" The Sphinx Teleia (2500/7000) and was able to withstand the attack of his dark god. "End turn," he seethed. The Devil's Eraser roared as it lost one thousand attack points.

Marik drew and a dark gin spread across his face. _"This god has spent a significantly short time on the field…" _"I'll activate _my_ Card of Sanctity, letting us both draw until we have six cards." He snapped the top cards off his deck and observed the field. The Devil's Eraser was at five thousand, with three monsters on the field, one card facedown and his Pyramid of Light. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

The Devil's Eraser (7000/7000) snarled as Yakou began his turn. "You won't block me this time! I set one card facedown. Attack his Andro Sphinx!" Once again the dark god was about to blast the sphinx, when Marik said, "Not this time! I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy one magic or trap card on the field. I choose the Pyramid of Light!"

Yakou blanched as the cyclone crashed into the walls of the massive pyramid, destroying it. The fragments disappeared before they hit the ground, and to Yakou's shock, the two sphinxes were vaporized as well. The Devil's Eraser dropped to three thousand. "When the Pyramid of Light is destroyed, it's bye-bye to both sphinxes. And then something special can happen…."

He smirked. "I can pay 500 life-points to special summon Thenien the Great Sphinx (3500/3000)!!!" The titanic winged sphinx appeared and roared Eraser, whose ATK was back to four thousand.

"Now the battle will be replayed. You can choose not to attack, or to either attack Thenien or my facedown monster. Choose." Yakou pointed at Thenien without hesitation, and the Devil's Eraser began to extend it's coils from the darkness. It wrapped it's form around the struggling Thenien as Marik only smirked. It drew its head back and began to form the unholy black flame once more. But Marik was ready.

"Fool. I activate my sphinx's ability. By paying 500 life-points, I can boost its ATK by 3000!" Yakou gasped as Thenien (6500/3000) grabbed Eraser's coils with it's muscular arms, and heaved the massive serpent of it's body. With one push, Eraser was thrown against the other side of the field. Thenien roared and punched the dark god, causing it to roar in pain before it was destroyed.

(Marik: 3000, Yakou: 4000)

Yakou fell to his knees, unable to bear the fact that his second god had been destroyed. Marik smirked as the poor man punched the ground repeatedly, drawing blood from his knuckles. "Now, now," said Marik in a mock voice of concern. "Don't want to go and hurt yourself, do you now?"

Yakou looked at his opponent, his face oddly calm. He stood up, strange emotions dancing in his eyes. "You wait… just you wait. I'll summon my final God. You have no idea how powerful it is."

He stood up. "Just you wait, Marik Ishtar. I am going to kill you."

Tea fell over as the holograms began to disappear. The Seal was contracting around Grimo, he was screaming in another language. Just as he was about to be taken, he pointed at Yugi. "YOU WILL DIE……" And then he was gone.

But Joey and Yugi didn't really care .They both rushed over to their friend. Joey knew that it was time for him to stay back, as Yugi bent over Tea, shaking. "Tea… please be alive…" he whispered. There was no response. He bent his head over as tears fell from his eyes. The silence of the afternoon was broken by the scream of Yugi Moto. "Noooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Seto saw a rope ladder be thrown down to him. A voice sounded, "Just climb up, Mr. Kaiba!" He rolled his eyes. Did hose cops think he was five? Grabbing the rungs of the ladder, he hauled himself up. As he pulled himself up through the hole and came out gasping for air. It was afternoon, but the Sun was dull. He was about to speak to the three cops who were helping him up when he noticed a prone body on the ground, with another form bending over it.

Without a word, he rushed over to it to see Yugi crying silently over Tea's body. "What the-…." he began, when Joey shook his head. "Tell you later," he mouthed. One of the cops walked over to Tea's body and said gently to Yugi, "Son, if we can get her to the paramedics in time, she will be able to survive."

Yugi didn't answer, but simply got up, his eyes still fixed on Tea as a bunch of personnel rushed over to her and put her on a stretcher. One cop walked over to Seto and began, "Mr. Kaiba, we're going to need to take you all downtown for some que-….."

He was cut off by a glare from the CEO. "If one word of this gets beyond the people here and a couple of paramedics, I swear, I will have everyone in your branch fired. I can make that happen."

The cop gulped and nodded, "Yessir, Mr. Kaiba! Not one word… outside these people… Fired…. Go it!" He then scurried off. Seto put a hand on Yugi's shoulder and said quietly, "Let's go back. She'll be all right. Don't bother about it."

Yugi ignored him. He looked to the sky, a strange look in his eyes. A look that would have even scared the daylights out of Kaiba. "**_I'm coming for you Marik. And when I get you, you won't escape. You're going to pay. You're going to pay big time_."**

He walked over to Grimo's body, also surrounded by cops, and picked a single card of his Duel Disk. He slipped Slifer the Sky Dragon into his deck. And in doing so, the first chess piece on the Light side of the board had been moved.

Marik smirked and drew his next card. A glazed look came over his eyes. "Oh yes…. I've drawn the card to guarantee my victory. It's over." First he slid a card into his Duel Disk. "Activate Monster Reborn on Black Night's Sphinx!"

The terrible black sphinx appeared and screeched at Yakou (3700/0). "Finally…." He grinned. "I sacrifice Thenien, Black Knight's Sphinx, and my facedown Giant Orc (2200/0), to summon the most powerful God of Light! I summon the controller of the Sun itself! I summon your death! I summon **_the Winged Dragon of Ra_** (?/?)!!!!!!!"

The three beasts disappeared in flashes of light. From the darkness though came a powerful golden light. A huge metallic sphere of light appeared above the field then, shining down an awesome glow.

"I must recite an ancient text that is on my card to bring him out of that state. Now, here goes. Great Beast of the sky; please hear my cry, transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight. Envelope the desert with your glow and cast your rage upon my foe. Appear in this game as I call your name... Winged Dragon of Ra!"

The sphere burst open to reveal a bird-like golden dragon. It seemed very machine-like, and it's two giant wings fanned out behind it. A blue sapphire was embedded in its forehead. It was the most powerful Egyptian god, the might protector of the Sun itself, the Winged Dragon of Ra.

Marik was smirking evilly at Yakou. "I'm sure you know, Ra's power dwarfs that of your dark gods. For one, it's ATK and DEF are equal to the combined ATK and DEF of all the sacrificed monsters. Thenien had 3500, Black Night's Sphinx had 3700, and Giant Orc had 2200. As for DEF, all have 0, except for Thenien's 3000."

Ra (9400/3000) far exceeded anything Yakou could throw at him. Marik smirked. "Ra, attack that pathetic fool's life-points with Blaze Cannon and end this duel!" As if this was just what it was waiting for, Ra opened it's mouth and fired a blaze of golden energy at Yakou, it's red eyes glowing menacingly. "Good bye," chuckled Marik.

Yakou reacted swiftly. "I won't let you do that! Activate Reduction Barrier, which reduces all damage that I take to ten percent!" Ra's massive beam of energy suddenly dropped in size, and although it hit Yakou; the blast that would normally have killed him simply burnt his coat a bit. "End turn," growled Marik.

(Marik: 3000, Yakou: 3060)

Yakou threw his burnt coat off and glared at his opponent angrily. "I'll show you what true power is all about!" He slid the top card off his deck and looked at it. A dark and morbid look crossed his eyes. "Fool………"

He continued to smirk as he slid a card into his Duel Disk. "Demonic Survival lets me summon a number of fiends from my graveyard equal to the number of cards in your hand. You've got five, but I've only got three fiends in the graveyard. No matter. Say hello to the Summoned Skull (2500/1200), Dark Ruler Ha Des (2450/1600), and Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500)!"

The three fiends reappeared and shrunk back when they saw Ra. "Now, I'm going to summon up your worst nightmare! A beast so terrible, that even the gods fear it! I summon my tier three god! By sacrificing all my monsters, I summon THE DEVIL'S AVATAR!"

The three fiends all disappeared, and now the sky was completely black. Yakou had a crazed grin on his face, and even Marik, a man who had done more terrible things that he could count, had to admit that he looked scary.

Marik had expected a fiendish demon or a majestic god, but certainly not a big, black ball. It was perfectly spherical. "That's your 'god'?" smirked Marik. "Look's like he's a bit on downtime, don't you think?"

Yakou ignored his quip, choosing to point at his dark god. "Devil's Avatar is a card specifically designed to defeat the gods. A very powerful card indeed. It can only be summoned when a divine-beast is in play." A slow smirk spread across his face. The sphere began to open.

"It mimics the abilities of whichever god is on the field." "**_WHAT_**?!" roared Marik, much to Yakou's amusement. The sphere opened completely to reveal the most horrifying thing Marik had ever seen. It was a dark Ra.

It was identical to the holy beast on his field in every way: it was black in color. Yakou was grinning broadly by now. "The Devil's Avatar (6850/4300) will easily crush _your_ god."

Marik regained his composure. "I think not. Ra has nearly three thousand more life-points that that cheap imitation. It doesn't matter. You don't have enough life-points to save it as well. So all your efforts were put to waste by the superior strength of my god."

"Not quite. I still have one last card to play." Marik said mockingly, "And which is that? Are you going to come and haunt me and my almighty god with your terrible _ghosts_?"

"Something like that. Activate CALL OF THE HAUNTED!" Marik was shocked as the card with a bunch of gravestones as the image appeared. "Be reborn: Wicked God Dreadroot (4000/4000)!" The massive fiend reappeared beside the dark version of Ra and growled at the god of the Sun on Marik's field. "Both Ra and the Devil's Avatar are on tier three, so the tier two Wicked God Dreadroot won't affect them. But I only wanted it for one reason: it's ATK!"

Dreadroot disappeared in a wisp of dark energy and was absorbed into the Devil's Avatar. "Mimicking Ra's ability to sacrifice monsters for their ATK was certainly helpful," chuckled Yakou was the Devil's Avatar (10850/8300) was now more powerful tan any monster that had been summoned in the duel……..

Marik gasped. This wasn't possible! He could not be defeated by this fool!!! "Devil's Avatar," commanded Yakou. "Attack with Dark God Breath Cannon!" The massive, black dragon opened it's maw and black flames burst out, streaming towards it's light counterpart…..

**Whew. I'm pretty busy, hence the chapter wasn't long enough. If I have time, I'll give the Marik vs. Yakou duel a quick conclusion in the next chapter. If anyone has OC's to submit, either PM me or submit them in reviews and I'll consider them.**

**Original Cards**

**Black Night's Sphinx, Complimentary Protection, Total Defense Barrier. Forget the original cards from the previous chapters.**

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please, I only got two for the last chapter.**


	20. Let the Battle Begin, Part 3

CHAPTER NINETEEN: The Battle Begins, Part 3

If you came here expecting a long, six thousand word chapter, be disappointed. I'm going crazy with exams, and even I'm surprised that I was able to upload this chapter. Anyway, here are the reviews.

**Metal Overlord 2.0: It's a pleasure to receive reviews from a pleasant guy like you who knows just how to complement people. Keep reading. About Cyber Commander's Nergal the Night Monarch, I don't think it'll work out for Darren. I've got something much scarier planned for him. **

**Princess Yuriana: Don't we all? Thanks for the review.**

Wolf General: Man, it's a real honor to receive a review from whom I consider to be the best Yu-Gi-Oh author on I'm glad you liked it, and yup, I'm taking your advice into account. I'm putting every one or two new dialogues on a new line. Keep reading. I hope you'll enjoy it. Thanks for the review.

Yakou broke into mad laughter as the Devil's Avatar continued to pour out flames towards Ra. "IT'S OVER! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR MESSING WITH ME!"

Marik could only watch helplessly as the black flames hit Ra. It screamed in pain as it was burnt bit by bit. Soon, it was all but consumed by the flames. The once might Sun god gave a loud, mournful cry before it was completely obliterated. Marik shook his head in disbelief. For the first time in history, the Winged Dragon of Ra had been defeated in battle!

The flames were about to continue on to consume him, but it was still a duel, and the holographic projectors stopped them in their tracks. The dark version of Ra roared and snapped it's wings wide open to show it's might. Yakou was grinning maniacally. "End turn. The Devil's Avatar will kill you."

(Yakou: 3060, Marik: 1550)

Marik shook his head in disbelief at the next card. This was impossible. "One facedown monster. End turn." Yakou snapped the top card of his deck and snarled in rage, "I pay 1000 life-points to activate the special ability of the Devil's Avatar! Now it will transform into Egyptian God Phoenix mode, and obliterate your monster!"

To Marik's shock, the terrible beast screeched and with one flap of it's mighty wings, it heaved itself up into the swirling cloud above them. It reappeared after a moment: in an even more terrifying form. It was a flaming, black phoenix. It was completely made up of the black fire that the Devil's Avatar had fired at Ra, and boy was it a scary sight.

Marik bit his lip in rage. Activating Ra's Phoenix mode had been like a trademark move for him back in Battle City. And this man had the cheek to actually use it against him!

The black phoenix shot out of the sky and crashed into his facedown card. It was barely revealed to be a Newodoria (1200/700) before it was completely obliterated in the hellish flames of the Devil's Avatar. "Now," thundered Yakou, "FINISH IT!"

The phoenix turned to Marik, it's piercing red eyes burning a hole through him. With a roar, it opened it's beak and the black energies once again propelled themselves towards the dark spirit. "I discard a little friend of mine whom I like to call Kuriboh (300/200) to negate all damage taken during this turn!"

A wall of fur balls appeared and took the brunt of Yakou's attack, much to his scream of rage. "I HATE YOU!!!!!" Marik smirked easily. "You do know how to compliment someone, don't you?!"

Yakou's hair was haggard and blood was leaking from a dozen cuts on his body. "I swear… I swear I WILL KILL YOU!" Marik continued to smirk, determined to egg the mad duelist on. "GO AHEAD! YOU'RE ANGRY! RELEASE IT ALL! LET OUT ALL YOUR RAGE!" He laughed with the mad exhilaration of it all. This was what he did best: ruining people's lives. Yakou's scream of rage echoed throughout the dark sky as the Devil's Avatar roared, as if to back it's master up.

His eyes were blood red as he glared at Marik. "Next turn you'll burn in the raging fires of Hell!"

(Marik: 1550, Yakou: 2060)

Marik drew and smirked at his opponent. "Let's have a little bet. In exactly three turns, this duel will be over." Yakou's face contorted even more and he sneered, "Three turns? You've got to be kidding me. It's all over next turn." Marik shook his head. "I repeat myself. No matter what, in three turns, the Devil's Avatar will be dead!" Yakou shook his head in amusement. "Fine. Three turns."

"I set one card facedown in defense mode and I'll also activate Tremendous Fire, dealing you 1000 points of damage and me 500. But there's more. I'll chain Barrel Behind the Door to take all damage done to me and throw it right at you!" There was a massive explosion of flames in the center of the field and a large amount of it was blown towards Yakou. The remaining swept towards the other, but a barrel appeared and reflected it at Yakou.

He was badly scorched by the flames, and he snarled in rage as he threw off the remains of his shirt, leaving a thin vest. "I see. By reducing my life-points to below 1000, you've made I impossible for me to activate the Phoenix ability. Impressive." Marik chuckled. "Get used to it. On second thoughts, you won't get the time to. I'm ending my turn, which means your first turn is up."

(Marik: 1550, Yakou: 560)

Yakou didn't take his eyes of his opponent as he drew. A dark grin spread across his face. "Behold a combo that dwarfs even the King of Games!" He slid a card into his Duel Disk. "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600)!" The iron knight appeared and glared at Marik, who was taken aback. This was the card that Wheeler had nearly used to defeat him in the Battle City finals.

"Next I'll activate Spell Absorption. Thanks to this, I gain 500 life-points every time one of us activates a spell card." He smirked at his opponent as he slid a final card into his Duel Disk. "Finally I'll equip Gearfried with Butterfly Dagger – Elma, giving it 300 more attack points!" A small, ornate green dagger appeared in front of Gearfried. Yakou's life-points shot up to 1060.

Instead of grabbing the dagger, Gearfried lashed out with his fist, smashing it to pieces. "The effect of my Iron Knight states that it cannot be equipped with an equip-magic card. The card is automatically destroyed." His grin spread. "But Elma's effect states that every time it is sent to the graveyard, it returns to my hand." A sick, sadistic look entered his eyes as Marik's jaw dropped. The card shot out of his graveyard, and Yakou slipped it into his Duel Disk again. The dagger appeared. His life-points increased. The knight smashed it into pieces. Yakou played Elma again.

Marik couldn't believe it. How could Yakou play such a powerful infinite loop?! He watched helplessly as Yakou's life-points continued to increase. Ten thousand… Twenty thousand… Fifty thousand…. The moves of the creator of the dark gods were a blur.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!!!!" screamed Marik is rage and horror. Yakou ignored him choosing to increase his life-points even more. The dagger now simply appeared and disappeared, as his life-points shot up even more. Finally, they came to a stop as Marik looked on in horror.

(Marik: 1550, Yakou: ∞)

Yakou smiled a sadistic smile that sent shivers even down Marik's spine. "The combo was perfect. Especially for this monster of mine. Watch as it brings about your doom! First I'll sacrifice Gearfried to the Devil's Avatar." The knight disappeared and was absorbed by the dark dragon (12650/9900). "Finally I'll pay all but one of my life-points to give the Devil's Avatar an unrivaled level of strength!"

Marik couldn't do anything as his opponents life-points dropped to 1, while his monster was now unbeatable. The Devil's Avatar (∞/∞) could crush any monster in the game. "ATTACK HIS PATHETIC FACEDOWN WITH DARK GOD BREATH CANNON INFINITY!" The infinitely powerful monster opened it's mouth and a massive black fireball, almost a small sun, was fired at the facedown card. It hit it, resulting in it's destruction immediately. Marik was horribly scorched by the attack. His arms were burnt, but his back was protected by the heavy cloak.

Throwing off it's remains, he glared at his opponent and the Devil's Avatar. Yakou only smirked back. "End turn."

Marik placed his hand on his deck, and he felt it. He looked up, utterly confident of his power as he stared at his opponent. "Your time is up. It's the third turn. Draw."

Seto paced up and down the waiting room restlessly. A lot had happened in the last few hours. He had faced a ghost from his past: Kevin Hunter. He never really thought that anything to do with Adam Hunter would come back to haunt him again. He clenched his fists tightly. But Kevin had.

And then there was Gardner. She was the only one in the geek squad whom he had been able to have a civil conversation with: other than Yugi that is. She had been able to summon a monster with forty-seven thousand attack points. He had truly underestimated her.

That coupled with the fact that Kevin possessed a dragon that far surpassed even his Blue Eyes Shining Dragon: it was enough to drive him crazy.

Yugi was currently in Tea's room, while Seto waited outside. Joey had gone to find Tristan and Serenity. The door opened slowly, and Kaiba blankly realized that they had arrived. "Wheeler," he said curtly to Joey, who tried to sound rude as well, but was too worried about Tea. Serenity silently walked up to Kaiba and buried her face in his shoulder as tears began to spill out. The cold-hearted CEO just held her there, no look of sadness or regret crossing his face.

Yugi sat at Tea's bed, no emotion crossing his face as he watched the face of is childhood friend. "_So beautiful…"_

Faint flickers crossed the screen that displayed her heartbeat. It turned out that the shock, stress and horror of her duel with Grimo had been too much for her body and mind. He silently grasped a card in his had. "_Tea, I swear that I will use this card to avenge you._"

He reached out and clutched her cold hand. For a second he thought her saw a spark in her eyes, but realized he was wrong. He clutched her hand tightly as the tears began to slide down his cheeks. "Yugi?" said a startled voice.

The King of Games glanced down to see Tea's open eyes. "Tea…" he trailed off. Without a word, he bent down and held her. Simply held her, as she began to cry softly.

Zane leaned against the wall in Sheppard's office.

Jaden and Alexis were sitting on two chairs opposite the headmaster of the school, holding hands. They had come out of the Slifer Red common room the next morning, both apparently in a very good mood. They had been holding hands since, and it seemed like everyone knew that they were officially a couple.

Crowler was standing next to his colleague. It was morning, and they were discussing the incident with Darren.

"I have spoken to Mr. Kaiba," said Sheppard. "I gave him the details of what happened, and when I mentioned that Seal of Orichalcos card, he said that you'll were not safe at the Duel Academy." Alexis sucked in a breath. Obviously, the incident had shaken her to the core.

"He didn't explain his reasons, but said that he knew where you would be more or less safe, as well as help him in a few things. It's up to you'll." Jaden stared at Sheppard and asked, "What does he need us for?"

"He wants the three best duelists among the ones involved in this. Of course, that means that he's referring to the three of you." He gestured towards Jaden, Alexis and Zane.

"He's spoken to your parents about this, and they were a bit frightened. Mr. and Mrs. Yuki were apprehensive and wanted you to return home, Jaden, and the same thing went for you Alexis but Mr. Kaiba told them that they would be much safer from that madman Hirugashi around him, as he possesses security that the Duel Academy does not. They listened to reason. As for you, Zane," he nodded. Zane was nineteen, and had firmly told Sheppard that he didn't want the latter to talk to his parents about anything concerning him.

"It's up to you'll. If you'll agree, Mr. Kaiba will have a plane sent here immediately." Jaden looked down for a moment. "I'll do it," he said finally. Alexis gave his hand an affectionate squeeze. "If you are, so am I."

Zane shook his head in amusement. "Fine. But where exactly are we going?" Sheppard smiled faintly. "A place that I'm sure you'll will be happy to go to." Everyone looked at him blankly. "New York City."

Marik snapped the top card of his deck and a slow grin spread across his face. "It's over. I activate Double Spell, discarding a card from my hand to activate a magic card from your graveyard. I choose the Card of Sanctity." Each player drew until they both had six cards in their hand. Marik smirked. "Perfect. Let me winning play commence. To start things of, I'll activate Effect Economics, which means that neither of us has to pay life-points to activate card effects."

Yakou shrugged. "It's not as if it matters anymore. The Devil's Avatar is totally invincible. It's immune to all card effects, and with it's infinite attack points, you cannot defeat it." Marik glared and said, "Cut the crap and watch me .I'll take out your cheap imitation of a god here and now!"

With blazing eyes, he slipped another card into his Duel Disk. "I activate Soul Release, removing five monsters in my graveyard from play." Ghostly images of Andro Sphinx, Sphinx Teleia, Thenien the Great Sphinx, Obelisk the Tormentor, and Ra appeared behind Marik and then disappeared.

"Then I'll activate Return from the Different Dimension, to revive them all until the end of the turn!" Marik's field surged with raging light and darkness as the three sphinxes, the might blue god, and finally the scion of heaven and hell landed on it. (2500/3000) (3000/2500) (3500/3000) (4000/4000) (0/0). "Normally I'd have to pay half my life-points, but thanks to Effect Economics, that effect is null and void." They all roared at the Devil's Avatar, which dwarfed them all.

"Fool," smirked Yakou. "You want to activate Obelisk's effect and destroy the Devil's Avatar. But Obelisk is a tier two god and the Devil's Avatar is tier three. So it doesn't matter. The only way to defeat my ultimate dark god is in battle, and that is impossible."

Marik shook his head. "Like I said before: cut the crap. My combo is not done. Next I'll pay all but one of my life-points to Ra." Yakou was silent as Ra (1549/1549) had now reached a mediocre level of strength.

"For the next step of my combo, I activate Brave Attack, which lets all monsters attack one of yours as one, during this Battle Phase. Go my army of beasts, attack his dark god!"

The various beams of energy combined and plummeted towards the Devil's Avatar, which snapped open it's maw and fired a small, black fireball at it's adversaries, destroying them. "YOU LOSE!" roared Yakou, but to his shock Marik was still standing. "Explain yourself!" he snarled.

Marik shrugged. "My quick-play spell, Silent Chant of Life, lets me pay a thousand life-points to negate all life-point damage till the end of the turn. Thanks to Effect Economics, I don't have to." Yakou snorted, "You're field is still wide open." "We'll see," smirked Marik. "My battle-phase isn't over yet, so I'll activate yet another quick-play spell card, Trap Renewal which lets me pay two thousand life-points to bring back one trap card. Need I mention Effect Economics?"

Yakou snarled as the Return from the Different Dimension reappeared, bringing Marik's five monsters. "Brave Attack lasts till the end of my battle-phase, which as I said before is not over. Which means," he chuckled, "Every monster I summon and attack with will contribute attack points to bring down Devil's Avatar." The five monsters snapped open their jaws and fired their attacks at their opponent, who roared and crushed them with ease. However, a meter with a number appeared. It showed the combined attacks of all of Marik's monsters.

"Trap Renewal lasts till the end of the turn. You know what that means." Yakou gasped. "_That means you can keep using Return from the Different Dimension!_"

"You're smarter than you look," commented Marik as he began to laugh. The five monsters appeared again, and snapped fired their attacks.

"Since I needn't pay any life-points for any of these effects, I can use Trap Renewal an infinite number of times, which means I can also use Return from the Different Dimension an infinite number of times. In a nutshell, I can continue to bring back my monsters endlessly, and attack with all of them. Silent Chant of Life protects me from any damage. Finally, Brave Attack combines the attack of all my monsters together during the Battle Phase. They're destroyed at the end of the turn, but that's irrelevant. The fact is that I can attack infinitely with my monsters, and with their attacks combined…"

He pointed at the Devil's Avatar. "Your so-called invincible piece of crap is finished." The monsters had stopped disappearing, and were instead constantly on the field, continuing to release energy against the Devil's Avatar, which continued to counter. "The combined attack of my monsters is infinite."

The meter above the monsters hit infinite as Yakou screamed in rage. The combined attacks of the two gods and three sphinxes clashed with the unholy dark god as the latter fired its dark energy ball. All six monsters roared in pain, a sound that shook the very heavens themselves. There was an explosion, one bigger than a bomb's explosion as all monsters were destroyed in an influx of dark energy. Yakou continued to scream in rage as his ultimate monster was defeated.

Marik shook his head and scoffed, "Now, now, learn to take losses like a man." His monsters reappeared, and Marik continued. "I'll sacrifice all four others to Ra." The might sun god roared as the sacrifices disappeared into its hard golden scales (13000/12500). But Yakou wasn't listening. He simply stared at the ground. "_I've failed……………_"

"This is what you get for mocking the true dark gods!! Ra, put this pathetic fool out of his misery with your Blaze Cannon!" Ra opened it's jaws and fired it's golden fireball one last time. Yakou didn't even notice it racing towards him. The same thought rung through his mind as he was completely incinerated by the divine wrath of the sun god of Egypt. "_I've failed…… I've failed……_"

There was no explosion this time. Marik nodded at Ra as it roared it's victory and disappeared. He walked over to the place where the body of Yakou Tenma had been kneeling and bent down towards his Duel Disk. He pulled out three cards: the Wicked God Dreadroot, the Devil's Eraser, and the Devil's Avatar. With simple flick of his wrist, he tore them in half, and let the pieces fall to the ground. He turned heel and disappeared into the mist, whistling. That was the last the world had heard of Yakou Tenma and the three fake dark gods that he created.

**Yay! I reached chapter twenty. A big thank you to everyone who has read my story.**

**About three and a half thousand words is pretty decent for exam time. You'll see the next chapter before May, and then I'm off on a long-awaited 25 day trip. Hopefully I'll do okay in my exams, lol. For those of you who didn't understand the combo, tell me, and I'll re-explain it in a reply next time. Hope everyone liked the romance! Jaden/Alexis and Yugi/Tea forever!**

**Original Cards:**

**By Me: Trap Renewal, Silent Chant of Doom**

**By Seeker of the Soul (another YuGiOh author whom all of you'll should check out. His first story was under the penname of thegymrat): Effect Economics**

**Please review; it's very depressing to see that I've got 1800 reads and only 40 reviews. REVIEW!**


	21. A Cyber Duel, Part 1

CHAPTER TWENTY: A Cyber Duel, Part 1

**Well, I was hoping for it to be a bit longer than four and a half thousand words, but I felt like updating today. Exams are finally over, and there are eight days before leave for my vacation. I'm sure that you'll will get two, maybe even three chapters (if you'll are good and review) before the second of May. Happy reading. **

**After I get back on the 27****th****, there are fifteen days till it's back to school. You'll definitely get a least four chapters then. I want to wrap the story up before my birthday in July, or maximum by August. There are quite a few other fics I want to start, but maybe I'll just flow onto the sequel for this one. As of now, it's a four part set of stories.**

**This one will start going faster from now on. I can't spend the next 20 chapters with random duels. Anyway, have fun reading.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Yup, Darren is nasty and so is his dueling. That's why he's my favorite OC.**

**Princess Yuriana: Thanks a lot.**

Yugi, Seto, Joey, Tristan and Serenity sat by Tea's bed. It had been three days since the incident with Kevin and Grimo, and Tea had made a drastic recovery. They had moved her back to the hotel in two days, and everyone else had tried to take her mind of her duel with Grimo.

They were currently in Tea's room, and were talking about the Kaiba Corp. Grand Championship. "That Zigfried von Schroder was one nasty piece of work," commented Joey. "That's because you couldn't beat him," smirked Kaiba.

Joey was about to fire an insult back, when there was a ring of the intercom from the reception. Seto picked it up. "Hello," he said curtly. "Yes? Are you sure? _Gardner_, you say?"

Everyone looked at him curiously. "What is his purpose of visit? His _SISTER_?" Kaiba covered the receiver with his hand, and whispered something in Tea's ear. She gasped and said, "You're kidding right?" Seto shook his head. She sighed. "Never thought this would happen. Fine then. Let him come up."

Kaiba repeated the words into the receiver and closed it. The other four exploded with questions at the same time. "What happened?" "Why did you only tell Tea what happened?" "Don't think you can hide everything from us, money-bags?"

Seto silenced them with a glare. "Because it was only for Tea's ears. You'll see what I'm talking about in due time."

After about two minutes, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," hollered Joey. An annoyed voice sounded, "You have to open the door." Joey shook his head and did so. No one could believe the appearance of the person standing there.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Marik and Dartz stood confidently on 34th Street in Fifth Avenue. It was about one o'clock in the morning. About a hundred feet from them was the tallest building in New York. The Empire State Building. Their followers had made sure that their wouldn't be a large number of people in the area on that day, making the job easier for them. "Really think this will work?" questioned Dartz.

Marik smirked in response. After his duel with Yakou, he had immediately returned to New York to execute the next phase of his plan. "Trust me."

With a confident grin, he walked the distance to the entrance door to the Empire State Building. Their men had made sure not to clear the building. After all, Marik needed his fun… A security guard was sitting with his feet on a desk, a cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth. He noticed Marik's purple cloak and droned, "Eh? Whazzat' fancy dress thingy?"

There was a flash of golden light from the Millennium Rod, and the poor man was banished to the Shadow Realm forever, never to return. Marik slashed the Rod through the air, and it generated two scythe-like waves of light which crossed into an 'X' formation and sliced into the door. It crashed to the floor. Dartz snorted disdainfully. "I could do much better. You are far too messy."

"Have a go then."

"With pleasure."

Marik mockingly bowed and motioned for Dartz to enter, who did so haughtily. The atrium was empty, and they reached an elevator. "Let me show you how it's done." Dartz raised a hand, a bolt of green energy crashed into the elevator door, obliterating it. Not a particle was left.

Instead of stepping into the lift shaft, Dartz blew it up as well. His Orichalcos stone glowed, and a glowing, green translucent platform of light appeared beneath him and began to levitate him through the shaft. Marik yawned and did the same with his Rod.

By the time they reached the eighty-ninth floor, Marik made a beeping noise, in an imitation of what the elevator really did. With a single slash of his Rod, he burst open the door of the elevator, leading them to the terrace of the Empire State Building, over a thousand feet off the ground.

Dartz raised his Orichalcos stone. Marik raised his Rod. Green and golden light burst out of the two objects respectively. It leapt through the night sky, illuminating it to an extent that everyone who saw it had to cover his or her eyes. It was then that every single one of Marik's Rare Hunters and Dartz's Orichalcos duelists revealed themselves. From every corner of New York, from the playgrounds of the rich at the Waldorf-Astoria, to the places where the lowest of the low gathered from Tenth Avenue onwards. All revealed themselves to their masters' call.

"_Rare Hunters_," thundered Marik. "_And Orichalcos Duelists. It is time to meet your destiny. The time has come to strike our enemy and bring them down once and for all! Serve me well, and you will be honored. Betray me: AND MY WRATH WILL BE UNFORGIVING!" _His raw power spread his voice to all his followers.

Dartz joined it. "_Each one of you has been equipped with the sacred power of the Orichalcos! YOU'LL CANNOT, WILL NOT, __**LOSE**_" Marik's voice changed to a vicious one. "_Bring me the Puzzle of the Pharaoh, as well as his Egyptian God card! Do it: or PAY THE PRICE!"_

There was a roar of agreement. "YOU'LL CANNOT LOSE! YOU'LL SERVE ME, AND THAT IS REASON ENOUGH FOR YOU'LL TO SUCCEED!" Marik took a breath and screamed, "_**DEATH**_!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The single word resounded all over the world's largest city as his followers cheered along with him. The very essence of evil radiated from this group of dark duelists, and unless a certain Pharaoh did something about it soon, their fanaticism would be the end of the world.

Marik smirked as he put his hand down. "Now that that's taken care off….. Time to move in." Dartz chuckled and said, "Take the higher half of the building. I want the first fifty floors. After all, if any idiots arrive, I'll be able to crush them." His companion shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'll be redecorating my new headquarters." With that he walked back into the building.

And the legendary Empire State Building now became the omen of Death, tainted by the evil of King Dartz of Atlantis, and Marik Ishtar, the Dark Spirit of Egypt.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The boy standing in the doorway was about fifteen. He had short, messy chestnut hair, with bluish-green eyes. He was about five foot eight, and dressed in casual jeans a T-shirt. "Hey," he said mildly. "I'm Kyle Gardner."

Everyone was astounded. Not one of them could say a word. Finally, Joey said shakily, "You have got to be kidding me." "About what?" said Kyle dismissively. "In case any of you people want to know, I'm here to see my sister Tea. Apparently she was involved in a weird incident downtown."

Everyone exploded, except for Tea and Kyle. "_**SISTER**_?!?!?!?!" They all turned on Tea. Joey roared, "How come you never told us you had a brother, Tea?!" "A damn' brother!" yelled Tristan. Tea ignored the yells and stared across the room at the young teenager. She finally commented, "Never thought I'd see you again, Kyle."

The noise died down as everyone looked from one brown-haired sibling to the other. "Is it just me," muttered Joey. "Or do these two have a bad history?" he yelped and clutched his head: apparently Kaiba had brought his fist down on it. "Shut up, _mutt_," he said through gritted teeth.

Tea got out of her bed, still not saying a word. Kyle took a tentative step forward, but didn't say anything. For a minute it was awkward glances, and the next the two siblings were in each other's arms after what was going to be explained as a very, very long time….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jaden stared out of the window of one of Kaiba's private jets. He watched the tufts of clouds fly by…. Hell, if it hadn't been for one lucky draw, he wouldn't be looking at them right now.

Alexis sat next to him. "Penny for your thoughts?" she offered. "I don't think you'll have enough pennies, Alexis." She chuckled at the joke, but it immediately died down. Zane, who was sitting in another row, didn't say a word. "Seriously, why are you so depressed?" asked the Obelisk Blue beauty.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Jaden emotionlessly. "Not really."

"Fine. I'll tell you." Jaden took a breath and began. "It's Darren." Alexis rolled her eyes. "We spoke about that. We spent the entire night speaking about it, for God's sake!" Jaden didn't answer, but looked away, as his girlfriend continued.

"Jaden, it wasn't your fault! That idiot Darren was just a psychotic freak, nothing else! It was him who busted in and nearly killed Syrus: not you!"

To her surprise, Zane spoke up. "Listen up kid. I'm not one for giving advice: especially for this kind of stuff. But let me tell you: you're accomplishing nothing but blaming yourself. _Nothing_. You can mope about all you like, thinking that you should have warned Syrus, even when you know that you couldn't. But I'm not going to. I'm going to spend my time hunting down Darren Hirugashi and seeking my revenge. Be the Jaden Yuki that I know. The Jaden Yuki who aspired to be the Second King of Games."

Jaden stood up. Alexis put a hand on his shoulder. Zane got up, and before Alexis could stop him, his fist had crashed into Jaden's jaw, knocking him clean off his feet. Alexis yelped and bent down to see if he was hurt. But to her shock, he got to his feet. She had been expecting him to yell at Zane. To punch him back. Certainly not to rub his jaw and say cheerfully. "Thanks a lot. I needed that."

Zane snorted. "Looks like being the Jaden I know is being an idiot." "You're pushing your luck," smirked Jaden. "I'm glad I got you to get that stupidity out of your head. We've got some time in New York ahead of us. At least we'll be able to research Darren."

Jaden cracked his knuckles grimly. "And boy will he be in for a surprise when I find him."

Before anyone could answer, a morbid laugh sounded from the end of the cabin. Zane turned around to see the steward standing there. A red head, about five foot eight, dressed in the usual jacket and tie, but with a Duel Disk on his arm. "Yes?" snickered Jaden.

"Duel," said the steward blankly. He slipped a card into the field card zone of his Disk, and as Jaden yelled, "No!", the green pentacle with a circle around it expanded over the floor of the plane, enveloping the steward as well as Zane. The steward's voice changed. It changed to a voice that everyone recognized from the videos of the Battle City finals.

"I trust you know why I am here."

Zane's eyes widened as he recognized the voice. "You're Marik Ishtar: the one behind all that insanity at Battle City!"

"Very perceptive. You could say I'm the one behind your insanity too." Zane snarled, "What are you talking about?"

"It's quite simple. I've heard that you're quite a capable duelist. That's why I planted a small, ahem, 'bug' in your mind with my Millennium Rod, so that you'd duel Seto Kaiba. If you won, I'd find out what kind of threat you were, and I'd eliminate Kaiba at the same time. You lost: but you were still quite a capable duelist. So I'm going to get rid of you right here, right now. Not me, per say, but my mind slave here. You can just call him Kenshin. That is, after all, his real name."

Kenshin slid a duel disk out of his jacket and put it on. Zane mimicked his movements as they fired out the projectors. "Remember," leered Marik through Kenshin. "If you fail, you're soul will be lost." Alexis grasped Jaden's hand as the two players drew their first hand. There was no one who could help them. This man was supposed to be the only flight attendant on board. The pilot obviously wouldn't be able to do a thing: they had to pray that Zane would win.

(Zane: 8000, Kenshin: 8000)

"The first move is yours," smirked Kenshin.

Zane examined his hand and said, "You're in for a terrible time. I'll start things of by setting a facedown card. I'll end my turn." Kenshin raised his eyebrows. "That's all? Fine then. My move."

He drew and said, "I summon Pyramid Turtle (1200 + 500 1700/1400) in attack mode." A turtle with a pyramid on it's back as it's shell then appeared on the field. The pyramid had an odd red eye in the center of it, making the creature look just that much odder. "That's all for now."

Zane shook his head. "I know what you expect me to do. You expect me to ridicule a monster with twelve hundred attack points and taunt you for summoning a pathetically weak creature. But I know Pyramid Turtle's ability. However, I don't really care. The fact that you summoned it sealed your fate. I can now special summon Cyber Dragon (2100/1600) in attack mode!"

A metallic snake like dragon then appeared on the field, letting off a metallic roar. "Next I'll normal summon Mechanical Chaser (1850/800)!" A circular, metal hunter appeared. In two thin arms it held a two swords, and a spear extended from the bottom of its body.

"Cyber Dragon, obliterate his turtle with Strident Blaze!" The machine opened it's mouth and a massive blast of translucent energy reduced the turtle to a pile of cinders. Kenshin smirked.

"Fool. Now I activate it's special ability to summon a zombie with 2000 or less defense points from my deck to the field. I choose to summon the almighty Ryu Kokki (2400 + 500 2900/2000)!" A grey creature with some red and blue on it's chest, made up of skulls, rotting flesh, and other disgusting pieces then appeared. It was unnerving, least to say.

Zane shrugged. "I don't really care. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

(Kenshin: 7400. Zane: 8000)

Kenshin drew and smirked. "Go ahead and tear his dragon apart, Ryu Kokki." The feral beast snarled and leapt towards the Cyber Dragon. It's claws lanced through the air. When it was about to tear the dragon in half, Zane reacted in time.

"I'll counter by activating Limiter Removal from my hand, doubling the ATK of all machines on the field. That's not all. I'll chain my facedown Covering Fire, letting me sacrifice Mechanical Chaser to Cyber Dragon to boost the latter by the ATK of the former!" First, both machines doubled in size. Then, flames covered Mechanical Chaser as it was absorbed into the Cyber Dragon (7900/1600).

"Counter-attack with Strident Blaze!" The Cyber Dragon let out a stream of destructive energy, which burnt Ryu Kokki to a crisp. It screamed in pain as it was shattered into millions of tiny pixels.

Marik screamed in rage through Kenshin. "This can't be!" Zane smirked and shook his head. "You're pathetic. If this magic crap that you're telling me is true, then you placed second in Battle City. And on your first turn you're already five and a half thousand points behind me."

Kenshin gnashed his teeth. "End turn."

(Kenshin: 2400, Zane: 8000)

At this second, the Cyber Dragon exploded due to the other effect of Limiter Removal. Zane shook his head and drew. "I'll set a facedown monster and two facedown monsters. That's all for now."

Kenshin drew and said, "I activate Cost Down, discarding a card from my hand to reduce the stars of all monsters in my hand by two. Next I'll summon Vampire Lord (2000 + 500 2500/1500) in attack mode!" A blue skinned monster with light teal hair, a purple suit and a cape then appeared on the field. His forehead soon glowed green as the seal then appeared on it.

Zane shook his head. "So you're using a pathetic zombie deck. Might I tell you that this strategy is identical to every zombie user who plays the game? Your little Seal just makes them a bit stronger. This duel will be over within a few minutes." Kenshin ignored him. "Attack his monster!" The vampire began to form a black ball of energy in it's hands.

"Not so fast!" said Zane. "I'll activate one of my facedown cards: Call of the Haunted to revive my Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)!" The metallic dragon appeared. "Next I'll chain

Attack Reflector Unit, tributing Cyber Dragon to summon a new beast from my deck: meet Cyber Barrier Dragon (800/2800) in attack mode!"

The dragon-like machine began to change. Even the Vampire Lord stopped to watch. It grew longer, and lost it's dragon-like look. Spikes began to grow all over it's body, and it's eyes were now a piercing green. It was now almost twenty feet long, and looked like a metal snake.

"My Cyber Barrier Dragon can only be summoned by the effect of Attack Reflector Unit. If it's in attack mode, it can negate your first attack," said Zane nastily. The Cyber Barrier Dragon roared and absorbed the blast of energy. Kenshin frowned and ended his turn with a facedown.

Zane drew. "First I'll switch Cyber Barrier Dragon to defense mode." The massive draconic snake keeled forward and growled at Kenshin.

"Then I activate Monster Reborn on my Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)." It appeared and roared at its master's opponent, who shrugged. "It's nothing to my Vampire Lord." Zane smirked nastily and said, "Just shut up and watch, would you? Next I activate Polymerization to fuse my Cyber Dragon with the one in my hand to create my almighty Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2100)!" A translucent image of another Cyber Dragon appeared. Then the two started swirling together till a new twin headed snake like metallic dragon appeared. It let out a roar from each head and swished it's massive metallic tail.

"This powerful card is very rare, as its special ability makes it one of the most used fusions for the Cyber Stein (700/500) One Turn Kill. You'll feel it's wrath now! Use Double Strident Blaze to wipe away his vampire!"

The twin headed metallic dragon released a stream of orange energy from each mouth. The two blasts combined together into one and were about to hit the vampire when the zombie duelist shook his head. "Forget about my face down Truesdale? I reveal the trap card Mirror Force! Now all your attack mode monsters are destroyed!"

A multicolored wall of glass appeared in front of the blast and stopped them instantly. The wall then sent the blast flying back across the field towards the Cyber Twin Dragon, destroying it. Zane was normally not one for displays of anger, but he snarled in rage. "That's what comes from not thinking clearly," said Kenshin snidely.

Jaden glanced at his watch. The flight to New York was about two and a half hours. They were due to land in an hour. If Zane was able to stall for long enough, they could get help…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kyle sat by his sister as everyone else inspected him curiously. "Who are you?" said Kaiba finally. "Man, you've got a hearing problem. I already told you, I'm Kyle. I'm Tea's brother."

"You don't want to be giving me smart mouth, kid," growled Kaiba. Kyle smirked at this and said, "I really think I do." He obviously enjoyed giving people a hard time. Seto stood up and was about to walk over to Kyle when Tea glared at him. He shrank back.

"I do think I have to reveal this story to you all," said Tea quietly. Everyone was silent. "Our mother left our father when we were both very young. He's a very judgmental man, and when I made friends with you guys, he refused to let me get personal with them. I really got tired of it all, and at eighteen I left. I still don't understand why Kyle is here though."

Everyone turned to the chestnut haired teenager. He shrugged. "I was getting tired of Dad's weird attitude as well. I heard Tea was in New York. I had been saving up over the years and I left. I'm not going back to Domino, no matter what happens."

Seto rolled his eyes. "Listen up kid. We're dealing with stuff here that you really can't imagine. If you want my advice, you'll leave now. If you don't want to return to Daddy dearest, that's fine. I have father issues too. I'll set you up with a room in Kaiba Corp. for now. With Mokuba gone, some insane teenager has to boss my employees around. Roland just doesn't cut it."

Kyle shook his head. "I'm staying."

Yugi was about to say something but Kyle cut him off. "Don't bother. I'm not listening to you people. I've been living without Tea for three years. I'm not leaving her now." No one had an answer to this. They were, after all, siblings. Suddenly, Joey spoke up. "Do you duel?"

Tea shot him a warning look but he ignored it. "Yeah, I do," replied Kyle. "Well, if you can duel me right now, and if we think that you're good enough, we'll let you stay." "Listen up, Wheeler," interrupted Kaiba. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, you're wrong. This kid is fifteen for God's sake, and I don't want to risk his-…"

Joey yelled back, "Shut your mouth for once Kaiba! You go around acting like everything you do is fine and no one else can do things properly here. Why I oughta'-…" Kaiba raised his fist and Joey took a step forward.

"STOP!" thundered a voice. Everyone turned to see a very angry Yami standing behind the two squabblers. "While you two fight like children, Marik continues to grow more powerful! It's time the two of you settled your differences. At least temporarily." The two glared at each other.

Joey raised a hand. "Truce. If you stop calling me a mutt and bugging me, I won't yell like that any more." Seto glared at everyone in the room and gingerly shook Joey's hand. "Fine. But if you act like a-…." "Kaiba," set Yami warningly. The CEO sat down next to Serenity, disgruntled.

"However," continued Yami. "If Kyle is a good duelist, he might be very useful to us. One of us could duel him to see his level. If he agrees, it's up to Tea." First he turned to Kyle, who rolled his eyes and said, "What do _you_ think?" Yami then looked at Tea impassively.

"I really don't want to do this. If Kyle loses his soul to the Orichalcos, I won't be able to forgive myself. But still, I trust you guys with my life. At the same time, I don't have the right to trust you with someone else's…." she trailed off sadly. Finally she said, "It goes against my better judgment, but fine, I will let Kyle join us."

Yami grinned and said. "What are we waiting for?" Joey spoke up. "Na-ah. I'm dueling him." Everyone stared at him.

"If he duels Yugi or Kaiba," he threw the CEO a dirty look. "He's almost bound to lose. I'll admit it: I'm not as good as them, as good as I am. If he duels me, both of us might get a real challenge. And those two have gotten enough dueling. I haven't dueled since the North Pacific Regional Championships. I think I deserve a chance."

Kyle pulled a deck out of his belt. "I don't have a Duel Disk." Seto excused himself from the room and was back in a moment, with a Duel Disk. "Let's see what this kid can do." Joey slotted on his own Duel Disk. "Gym?" "Gym."

Exactly five minutes later, they were in the empty basketball court. It was the rich executives who stayed in the hotel at this time of the year, and apparently basketball was beneath them. Joey drew his first hand. "I'm not planning on goin' easy on you kid."

Kyle growled. "It's Kyle."

The two yelled at the same time, "Let's duel!"

(Joey: 8000, Kyle: 8000)

"I'll go first," smirked Kyle. "I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000) in attack mode." A mage with maroon robes then appeared on the field. He wielded a powerful sword and a shield as well. "When I normal summon this monster, his effect kicks in, allowing him to gain a spell counter. The counter gives him 300 extra attack points." The mage's sword glowed, signifying the small increase in power (1900/1000). "I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

Joey eyed his opponent closely. "I summon Marauding Captain (1200/400)." A blue clad warrior appeared with a long cape. He had messy blonde hair and wielded a long sword. "His effect allows me to summon another level four or lower warrior from my hand. I'll summon another Marauding Captain," chortled Joey.

Kyle groaned. "Not that sick lock." Another warrior appeared. The two crossed their swords, and a small shield of energy appeared around Joey's field. "Then I'll activate my second captain's ability to summon Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600). It can't take out Breaker, but it's good for now." The familiar iron knight appeared. "End turn."

Kyle groaned and drew. "I summon the Gemini Elves (1900/900) in attack mode." A pair of dark elves dressed in blue, appeared on the field. "I guess I'll end my turn." He glanced at the four cards in his hand, just to be sure that there was nothing he could do.

Joey chuckled as he drew, bringing the cards in his hand to four. "I summon one of my more powerful warriors. Meet Goblin Attack Force (2300/0)!" A group of strange, green goblins armed with crude clubs appeared on the field. "Attack his Breaker now!" The goblins rushed forward wildly and piled over the magical swordsman. It tried to fight back, but was overwhelmed easily.

(Joey: 8000, Kyle: 7600)

"End turn," chuckled Joey. Kyle glared at him as the goblins shifted into defense mode. "Just you wait… I'm going to give you the toughest duel of your life. Playtime's over. Time to reveal to you the true strength of my spellcasters!"

**Now that that's over, I have two questions to ask my readers. **

**Which is your favorite duel until this point? Better yet, make it your top two **

**favorite. That way, I'll be able to write similar duels to appease you'll, lol. **

**Secondly, do you'll prefer if I upload a chapter every two or three days of about three to four thousand words, or if I were to put up a seven to eight thousand word chapter ever five to six days, with the duel in two or three parts or in one part?**

**Send me answers to these two questions in reviews. It'll be really helpful. This is to all my readers out there. Please review with these answers. Thanks a lot.**

**On another note, I would like to mention the despicable shootings in Virginia. 33 innocent people were killed. May they rest in peace.**


	22. Cyber Duel, Part 2

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: A Cyber Duel, Part 2

**I don't know if I will be able to keep my word and give you'll two chapters. I wanted to make this one long, and I am working on another story. Check it out and review. A Terminator x Ghost Rider crossover.**

**I unfortunately got only two reviews. Anyway, here are the replies.**

**Seeker of the Soul: Yup, I thought it over and realized that what you said does make sense. I did count hand size for the Kyle versus Joey duel, and will do it from now on. I also includes X's to show the change of perspective. I figured out the game mechanics thing, although I have no idea about the OOC thing. I forgot to ask you. Care to elaborate? Thanks for the review.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Hmmm… interesting choice. My favorite was Marik vs. Yakou as well, although I didn't enjoy writing the Darren vs. Jaden one, simply cuz' Jaden is the strangest, densest, and most happy-go-lucky character there is. I like Darren though. Darren's cool. Reminds me of an evil Kaiba. As for Zane, read on if you want him to get his due…. or not. Thanks for the review.**

Kenshin drew. "I activate Zombie's Displacement, to remove two zombie's from my deck to summon another zombie whose total stars equal to or are less than the combined stars of the removed monsters. I choose to remove from play two Master Kyonshee's (1750/1000) to summon my almighty Despair from the Dark (2800 + 500 3300/3000)!"

There were two haunting cries and a massive shadow rolled over Kenshin's field. A monster appeared from it, and it was so big that it actually had to crouch to fit under the plane's eight foot ceiling. A reddish, purple, and black creature that looked like a large shadow more than anything had then appeared on the field with an evil chuckle.

Jaden grimaced. "I've faced of this card. During last year's tournament I faced a guy with this. It's effect doesn't really matter at this point, but it's got thirty-three hundred attack points." "Zane should be able to pull something off," said Alexis, worried.

"He'll have to draw a Limiter Removal or something quick. Otherwise he's toast against two zombies with twenty five hundred attack points at least."

"Now, show him the true strength of the undead and destroy his serpentine monstrosity!" The monster disappeared and to everyone's shock reappeared underneath the Cyber Barrier Dragon. With a single heave of it's claws the machine was in the air. It hit the ceiling, rocking the plane, and shattered to pieces.

"Next I'll activate Unending Death. This lets me discard a card to attack twice with a monster that has the word 'Despair' in its name. Despair from the Dark, annihilate his facedown monster!" The shadow once again reached forward and slashed the card in half. It was a Cyber Kirin (300/200).

"Vampire Lord, take back what I deserve and attack directly!" The vampire smiled viciously and with one jump it was on Zane, who cried out in pain as it's razor sharp teeth sunk into his shoulder. With all his strength, he punched the monster away. But the damage had already been done. He was down to 5500 life-points. "Consider that a taste of what I'm going to do to you," sneered the zombie duelist.

(Kenshin: 2400, Zane: 5500)

Zane shook his head and drew. His Cyber Barrier Dragon, his primary defense, had been destroyed. He would have to figure out a way to save himself until he was able to go back on the offensive. "I summon Heavy Mech Support Platform (500/500) in defense mode." A kind of large platform appeared on the field. It had a few rocket boosters at the end and two large, red wings. It looked like a platform more than anything else.

"Next I'll activate Machine Duplication. This lets me summon two more Heavy Mech Support Platforms from my deck." The two identical monsters appeared next to the one already there and beeped at the zombies, who hissed back. "That's all for now."

"Pathetic. You've erected a temporary defense," snarled Kenshin. He drew a card and roared angrily, "Vampire Lord and Despair from the Dark, attack two of the Heavy Mech Support Platforms!"

The massive shadow leapt towards Zane's field and with a slash of it's terrible claws, it cleaved the machine in half. The Vampire Lord then fired a blast of black energy at the second platform, destroying it as well. "I'd do more, but I can't. End turn."

Zane drew and observed the other monsters. His platforms had saved him, and if he played another monster in defense mode, he could save himself for another turn. But after that, nothing would stop Kenshin from taking a big chunk out of his life-points. Better to go on the offensive now if he could. "I sacrifice Heavy Mech Support Platform for the trap king, Jinzo (2400/1500)!"

The first machine disappeared, and was replaced by a new android. It wore grey and green armor, and stared at Kenshin with blank eyes. "That useless tin can can't touch my Vampire Lord, forget my Despair from the Dark. What was the point of summoning it?"

Zane's eyes flashed and he said, "Watch me." "You can't be seriously-…." began Kenshin when he saw the look on Zane's face. "Fine. Go ahead."

"Next I'll play Pot of Greed, expanding my options." He picked up two cards from his deck. He grinned. "Now to take out your undead freaks. I'll combine Jinzo with Amplifier, giving him a whooping total of 3200 attack points." "Still not enough," pointed out Kenshin.

"Maybe not yet. But I can seal your fate by equipping him with Machine Conversion Factory to boost his strength by an extra 300 for a grand total of 3500!" Kenshin shivered, now that Jinzo had reached a scary level of power (3500/1800). "Attack his Despair from the Dark with Psycho Shock!" The android groaned and fired a ball of yellow energy at the shadow, incinerating it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I sacrifice Gemini Elves for Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900)!" The monster that appeared was dressed in black robes similar to those of the Dark Magician, his blue-skinned face barely visible. He held his black staff aloft and then slammed the butt of it into the ground, sending arching waves of energy up around him.

Joey shook his head. "Listen kid, I don't think you heard me. Thanks to my Marauding Captains, you guy can't attack-…"

Kyle cut him off with a snarl of, "Don't patronize me! I know what I'm doing. And just because you've been going on about all this crap, I'm going to make it extra painful for you. Next I'll discard a card from my hand to activate Lightning Vortex. It's bye-bye to all your face-up monsters."

Joey swallowed as a bunch of lightning bolts arced out of the sky and destroyed all his monsters. "Ouch." Kyle sneered and said, "Next I'll follow it up with a direct attack from my trusty Chaos Command Magician. Chaos Magic Attack!"

A blaze of red power erupted from the end of the magician's staff. It hit Joey, nearly knocking him off his feet. He was able to stand his ground, breathing heavily. "Nice move kid." Kyle smirked, obviously enjoying the praise.

(Kyle: 8000, Joey: 5600)

Joey drew. "I'll throw a monster facedown and end my turn." It was all he could do. Although he had four cards in his hand, none of them fit the situation.

Kyle drew. "I set a monster in defense mode and I'll attack your monster with my magician." Once again a blazing red bolt of energy left the Chaos Command Magician's and crashed into the hologram of the card, revealing it to be an Axe Raider. It could barely scream before it was destroyed. "End turn."

Joey drew and smirked. "I summon Panther Warrior (2000/1600) in attack mode. It's a facedown card to end my turn." A purple panther in armor with a sword and shield appeared.

Kyle drew and recklessly declared Chaos Command Magician's attack against his opponent's monster. The powerful spellcaster blasted the other monster with chaotic magic. Joey yelled, "Not so fast, kid! I acti-…." "IT'S KYLE," roared said duelist in rage.

Everyone sweat-dropped at this outrage. "Calm down kid," muttered Joey. Seeing the look on Kyle's face he immediately corrected himself. "Okay, okay! Calm down, _Kyle_. As I was saying, I activate Skull Dice!" A cartoonish demon appeared. It was holding a red, large dice. "Depending on what the roll is, your monster will lose attack points equal to the roll into 100!"

The tiny demon nodded frantically and chucked the massive dice up in the air. It gazed intently as the dice fell to the ground. Joey yelled in triumph. "It's a five!"

Kyle groaned as his Chaos Command Magician (1900/1400) was weakened greatly. The Panther Warrior slashed in the air, and cut right through the magical blast to destroy the oncoming magician.

Joey pumped his fist in the air but Kyle growled, "It doesn't matter. Panther Warrior may be powerful but you'll have to sacrifice a monster so that he can attack. What's more, it's still my turn, so I can set a facedown monster and end my turn."

(Joey: 5600, Kyle: 7500)

"I draw," Joey declared, giving him four cards. "Next I'll summon Warrior Dai Grepher (1700/1600) in attack mode!" A muscular man in gray armor wielding a huge sword appeared. "I'll have Warrior Dai Grepher attack the monster on the right!"

The warrior brought it's sword down on what was a purple-clad spellcaster with spiky blonde hair. "You destroyed my Apprentice Magician (400/800)" said Kyle nastily. "When this fellow is destroyed, I can summon a level two or lower spellcaster from my deck in facedown defense position. I know just the one I want." He sifted through his deck for a moment and put a card onto his Duel Disk.

Joey turned slightly red, but sacrificed Dai Grepher to the Panther Warrior and ordered it to attack the new monster. Kyle was gleeful when it was revealed to be another Apprentice Magician. "I'll use it's effect again, of course." Joey grunted and didn't make any further moves, signifying the end of his turn.

Kyle drew and grinned. "Time for you to face one of my most powerful monsters. I sacrifice my facedown Magician of Faith (300/400) and Rapid Fire Magician (1600/1200) to bring out one of the kings of spellcasters! I summon the **Dark Magician**(2500/2100)!"

Everyone gasped at this. "Kyle's been playing with Wheeler since the beginning," smirked Kaiba. "And now the Dark Magician is going to end the duel."

The two cards disappeared to reveal the powerful purple robed mage. Joey winced as it glared at him. Yugi had used this card nearly every duel, and Joey had enjoyed seeing it thrash his best friend's opponents again and again. But somehow he felt that being on the receiving end of it wasn't going to be so pleasant…

"Attack his feline freak with Dark Magic Attack!" The powerful mage nodded and fired a large ball of black energy from its staff at the Panther Warrior, who never stood a chance. Joey moaned at the destruction of his monster. He, who was often considered to be the third best duelist in the world after Yugi and Kaiba, was being picked apart by this _kid_.

"There's a lot more where that came from" smirked Kyle. "I'll throw a facedown end my turn."

(Joey: 5100, Kyle: 7500)

"Draw," sighed Joey. "I gotta think of a way to get back in the duel….." He looked at his hand and grinned. "Ooh yeah, now it's time for me to strike back. He held up three out of his four cards.

"I'll play Polymerization to fuse the Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000) with my Summoned Skull (2500/1200), to summon up the Black Skull Dragon (3200/2500)!" vortex appeared on Joey's side of the field, even as he discarded a card from his hand and placed his Red-Eyes Black Dragon card in his Graveyard, and a silhouette of a skeletal-looking fiend appeared for a moment before it and Red-Eyes Black Dragon were sucked into the vortex. Moments later, from the vortex flew an even bigger dragon, but this one looked just like the skeletal fiend, except it had Red-Eye's wings, tail, and jaws.

Seto winced. "Man, Wheeler sure has some powerful cards. Wonder where he stole them from?" he added upon seeing the amazed look that Tea gave him.

Yugi, on the other hand, was chuckling. "I see Joey decided to keep the Black Skull Dragon combo for himself by adding a Summoned Skull to his deck. Quite wise of him. After all, Black Skull Dragon is a powerful card that the two of us have only summoned when tag-dueling."

"Attack his Dark Magician with Molten Fireball Attack!" The terrible beast opened it's jaws and fired a gigantic, rocky fireball at the mage. Kyle shook his head. "You're really an amateur. I activate my facedown Wabuko to protect me from that attack." Three robed mages appeared in front on the Dark Magician and warded off the fireball.

Joey winced. "Damn. I'll throw a facedown monster and end." Joey had no cards in his hand.

Kyle drew. "Say goodbye to that Black Skull Dragon. I activate Thousand Knives. This lets my Dark Magician destroy your Black Skull Dragon." Joey yelled in shock as six knives immediately appeared in the Dark Magician's hands, and he skillfully threw them towards the dragon. The remaining nine hundred ninety-four appeared from the air around the Dark Magician and quickly followed the ones he had thrown. The dragon was absolutely skewered.

"Next I'll have him attack your facedown monster." The Dark Magician raised its staff and with a single bolt of purple energy the hologram was no more. "I'll set a facedown and end my turn."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You think Joey can do it?" Tristan asked Yugi. The King of Games shrugged. "Well, he's in a tight situation. Kyle's good: he's really good. Both of them have no cards in their hands, but Kyle is more than 2000 life-points ahead, and he's got the Dark Magician. There are a few ways for Joey to pull out of this situation, but spellcasters are deadly. For all we know, Joey might even lose."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kenshin glared at Zane as he slid his Despair from the Dark into the graveyard. "I swear, when I get out of this mess, you're gonna pay!" Zane smirked and ended his turn.

(Kenshin: 2200, Zane: 5500)

Kenshin drew, shaking with rage. "I'll throw a monster in defense mode and switch Vampire Lord to defense mode as well." His eyes flashed at his opponent's patronizing ways.

Zane snapped the top card off his deck and said, "I'll summon my Infernal Dragon (2000/0) in attack mode." A hellish, black dragon appeared. It looked a bit like a zombie itself, with torn wings and a large spike on it's tail. "Next I'll have it attack your Vampire Lord!" The terrible dragon opened it's mouth and with a wave of black energy the zombie was destroyed.

"Then Jinzo can attack your facedown." Jinzo buzzed and incinerated the hologram. It was another Pyramid Turtle (1200 + 500 1700/1400). "I'll use it's effect to call upon another Vampire Lord (200 + 500 2500/1500)."

Another zombie in a tuxedo appeared. He grinned at Zane, who scoffed back. "End turn. Your monster is nothing." At that second, the Infernal Dragon exploded. "Infernal Dragon is destroyed at the end of the turn, if I've attacked with it."

"I wouldn't be so sure…." said Kenshin as he stared at the card he drew. "What do you mean?" he snarled. "I'll show you, ignorant fool. I sacrifice Vampire Lord and remove it from play to summon the master of my deck. Meet the most powerful zombie ever, VAMPIRE GENESIS (3000 + 500 3500/2100)!"

To everyone's shock, the Vampire Lord threw its arms up to the sky and was skewered by a massive, black sword. It disappeared; it's evil laughter still resonating in the still air of the plane. Out of the shadows, a large purple monster with wings attached from his arms to his back appeared. It had a large head with sharp teeth, and was rather disgusting to look at in general.

"This is the legendary Vampire Genesis, a beast so powerful that Pegasus only ever made about twenty-five copies. Even then, he realized that it was too powerful, and sent professional duelists out to get them back. He got twenty-four of them." Kenshin smirked sickly at the card on his Duel Disk. "I possess the only one out of that pathetic island. And it will be your death."

He slid another card into his magic/trap card slot of his Duel Disk. "I activate Card of Demise to draw until I have five cards in my hand." He snapped the top few cards of his deck, replenishing his resources. "However, I must discard my entire hand on the fifth turn after activation. It doesn't matter, as you won't be here in five turns. For I now activate the effect of Vampire Genesis. I discard Despair from the Dark (2800/3000) from my hand, to special summon Ryu Kokki (2400 + 500 2900/2000) from the graveyard."

Zane's eyes flashed as the gruesome, undead beast rose up next to the slightly more powerful Vampire Genesis. "How do you do that?" he snarled. "It's simply Vampire Genesis' effect. I can discard a Zombie from my hand to summon a zombie from the graveyard with a lower level than the discarded monster. And now," he turned his gaze to the Jinzo. "You're doomed."

"I don't see how. Jinzo and Vampire Genesis are equal in attack power. The only way for you to get through it is to suicide are two monsters. I don't think you want to waste a monster that's so hard to summon."

Kenshin ran a hand through his hair. "I don't plan on suiciding my powerful monster. That's why I am going to activate Mystical Space Typhoon to blow away your Machine Conversion Factory." Zane grimaced as Jinzo lost 300 attack and attack points, putting its stats at 3200/1500. "Vampire Genesis, blow away his pathetic monster wit Crimson Mist!"

The zombie put it's hands together and fired a massive column of blood-red mist at the trap master. The machine didn't stand a chance as it was blown away. Zane snarled helplessly at the destruction of his powerful monster. "Ryu Kokki," thundered Kenshin. "Attack his life-points directly!"

The disgusting monster leapt forward and slashed Zane across the chest. He fell to his knees, growling in pain at the attack. "Now who's in a bad position?" teased Kenshin as he ended his turn.

(Kenshin: 2200, Zane: 2600)

"You will be once I'm done with you. For now I'll set a card and end my turn."

Kenshin grinned nastily. "Vampire Genesis, attack and end this duel! Crimson Mist!" The massive beast heaved it's arms upward and the column of red mist that spelled Zane's doom spiraled towards him… "Activate Negate Attack," said Zane shortly. Kenshin snarled as the vortex absorbed his monster's attack and ended his Battle Phase. Unable to make any further moves, he ended his turn.

Zane glanced over at Jaden and Alexis and spoke quietly, knowing that if he didn't draw the card he needed right now, he would lose. "Draw."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joey examined his card. "Well, I'm gonna be nice and help the both of us. I activate ma' Card of Sanctity, giving us both full hands!" Kyle grinned as the both of them drew six cards. "You do realize that you've still given me an enormous advantage. I've got my Dark Magician on the field, and a full hand. I doubt you'll be able to summon a monster with over twenty-five hundred attack points this turn."

"You'd be surprised," muttered Joey. "I'll play Monster Reincarnation, discarding a card to return the Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000) to my hand." He slid one card in and one card out of his graveyard.

"I summon Red-Eyes Black Chick (800/500) in attack Mode!" He then placed a card, this time on a monster slot, on his disk, and then a tiny red egg materialized in front of Joey. The top of the egg cracked, and popped open, revealing the tiny black head of a baby dragon.

"Eight hundred? You've gotta be kid-…" began Kyle but Joey cut him off angrily. "You seemed like a nice kid, but you've got an ego bigger than moneybags! I'm seriously gonna beat you bad! Next I'll sacrifice it to special summon Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000) in attack mode!"

Suddenly the baby dragon glowed with a bright white light. Then it slowly began to enlarge, growing large wings and a ferocious beak, and long clawed legs. Then the light faded, and in the place of the baby dragon was a huge, full-grown, black dragon with, as its name suggested, red eyes.

"In case you've failed to notice, my magician edges out your pathetic dragon by a hundred points. Bad luck," pointed out Kyle testily. "Just watch me," chuckled Joey as he slid another card into his Duel Disk. "I'll equip it with Metalmorph, giving it 300 more attack and defense points." A huge coat of silver, and rather unsteady-looking, armor appeared and covered the Red-Eyes Black Dragon's body (2700/2300).

Kyle groaned. "Now, attack his Dark Magician with Flash Flare Burst!" The massive beast opened it's maw and fired a large blast of fiery energy crackling with black electricity. As it was about to hit the Dark Magician, the Red Eyes' ATK skyrocketed to 3950!

"What the hell is going on?" demanded Kyle as his magician was blown away. "As long as Metalmorph is in play, my Red Eyes gains half the ATK of the monster it's attacking. Half of 2500 is 1250, plus 2700, equals the grand total of 3950 that screwed your stupid magician."

After an afterthought, he yelled over to Yugi, "No offense buddy!" "None taken."

(Joey: 5100, Kyle: 6050)

Joey was just under 1000 points behind Kyle, but now had full control of the duel, with a monster at 2700 attack points that could easily cross 3000 when attacking.

Kyle drew, giving him a full seven cards. "I'll set a facedown monster, _and_ a card facedown to end my turn." Joey drew carelessly, and summoned Alligator Sword (1500/1200). A bipedal alligator, clad in armor and wielding a long sword appeared and snarled at Kyle.

"Alligator Sword, attack his facedown monster!" The reptilian warrior slashed the card in half, revealing it to be his third and final Apprentice Magician (400/800). "I'll then use its effect to set another monster in defense mode." Another hologram appeared. Just as it as it did, Joey commanded his Red Eyes to attack. It fired it's massive energy ball at the facedown, but Kyle countered swiftly.

"Negate Attack protects my monster from your attack." Joey's eyes narrowed. "I don't get it. Why would you let your first monster be destroyed but protect your second one?" "I have my reasons," said Kyle quietly.

"Fine. I'll throw a facedown and I guess I have to end, as there's nothing more I can do."

Kyle drew, giving him a full hand of six cards. He grinned. "This turn will spell out your demise. I first flip my Magician of Faith (300/400) face up, to use it's effect and add a magic card from my graveyard to my hand." The green and purple clad magician with a moon staff appeared and stared imperiously at Joey.

He slid a card out of his graveyard and added it to his hand. He looked at his seven cards. "I activate Pot of Greed, further increasing my options." "Like you even need more cards," muttered Joey in a jealous voice, as he only had two cards.

"It's over. Let me show you what I like to call my Dark Magician combo." "Dark Magi-….." muttered Joey to himself.

"First I'll sacrifice Magician of Faith for my personal favorite, the Dark Magician Girl (2000 + 300 2300/1700)!" A pretty female version of the Dark Magician appeared. She was donning a similar outfit to the Dark Magician, and when she saw Kyle, she smiled and blew a kiss to him. He blushed slightly, but concentrated on his combo. "Next I'll activate Monster Reborn to revive my Dark Magician (2500/2100)."

The Dark Magician Girl squealed in joy as her master appeared on the field. She did, however, lose 300 attack points. "Next I'll activate Dedication Through Light and Darkness, sacrificing the Dark Magician to summon my rarest and most powerful monster. Meet the Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!" A flaming pentagram appeared on the field, and slowly up through the center of the pentagram rose a mage with blue skin clad in black tight fitting armor. He held a long staff in his one hand.

Yugi gasped. "Where on Earth did he get the Dark Magician of Chaos? It's one of the rarest cards that exist. I got mine when I won a special tournament in England just for spellcaster users. Pegasus himself gave it to me. I can't imagine how Kyle got it!"

Kyle had apparently heard this, and called out. "I've been busy since Tea left. And now, I'll use its effect to get back Monster Reborn from the graveyard!" He pulled Monster Reborn out of the graveyard and grinned at Joey. "Then I'll play Monster Reborn again to revive my Dark Magician (2500/2100)!" The ever-familiar spellcaster appeared between its apprentice and it's chaotic evolution.

"Now," Kyle commanded. "I'll have Dark Magician of Chaos attack your Red Eyes Black Dragon with Chaos Scepter Blast!" The magician out with its staff, sending a sphere of magical power streaking towards the dragon, which was about to be completely obliterated, when Joey said, "I activate Wabuko, protecting me from your attacks until the end of the turn!"

Kyle shook his head and said, "You think that your Metalmorph will enable your dragon to outshine my magicians. You're wrong. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, so it's goodbye Metalmorph."

Joey winced as the metal coating on his dragon disappeared, reducing it to its normal ATK of 2400. There was only one card in his entire deck that could stand up to the mighty trio of spellcasters, and if didn't draw it he would be finished.

He looked at the card he drew and smiled. "Looks like it's over," he chuckled. "What do you mean?" asked Kyle coldly. "Just watch."

"I sacrifice my Red Eyes Black Dragon for the almighty _**Red Eyes Darkness Dragon**_ (2400/2000)!"

Everyone looked at Yugi uneasily. He held up his hands. "I don't know what's going on. Kaiba's the real dragon expert. Ask him."

No one bothered. They were all staring at the Red Eyes.

At that moment, however, dark shadows began to seep all around the Red-Eyes, even as its signature ruby-like eyes glowed brightly, with evil intent. It roared as it was engulfed by the shadows. There were flashes of light and when the darkness cleared, what looked like a demonic version of the Red Eyes. Red and golden veins popped out from various parts of its body.

"What's so special about it?" shrugged Kyle. "You'll see," muttered Joey. All of a sudden, the Red Eyes Darkness Dragon's ATK jumped to 3300. "What the hell?" yelled Kyle angrily.

"My dragon gains 300 attack points for every dragon in my graveyard. There are, unfortunately, only three. Red Eyes Black Dragon, Red Eyes Black Chick, and Black Skull Dragon."

"Sounds like a cheap rip-off of my Shining Dragon," muttered Seto, eager to criticize Joey in any way that he could. Yugi rolled his eyes at the comment and turned back to the duel.

"Red Eyes Darkness Dragon!" commanded Joey. "Attack his Chaos guy with Darkness Inferno Blast!" The massive dragon opened it's mouth and a dark stream of flames flew towards the Chaos mage, threatening to destroy it completely….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was Kenshin's turn. H watched his opponent intently as he declared Vampire Genesis' attack. "Crimson Mist! Finish off this fool once and for all!"

Once again, Zane was ready. "Activate Command Silencer. This lets me negate your attacks and I can also draw one card." A tall metal statue appeared in front of Zane. It buzzed and raised its two hands. To Kenshin's shock, a massive wave of sound erupted from the statue. He fell to his knees, clutching his ears. "Your monsters can't attack if they can't hear you," smirked Zane.

Kenshin stood up shakily. He glared at Zane and muttered, "I end my turn."

Zane drew. "Perfect," he mused to himself. "Say goodbye to Vampire Genesis _and_ Ryu Kokki! I activate Lightning Vortex, letting me discard a card from my hand to destroy them both!"

Zane had expected Kenshin to howl in rage. He expected him to swear. He didn't expect him to begin to laugh. "You poor fool. You've destroyed my _second_ most powerful monster, only to open the door for my supreme beast!" Zane glanced at him uneasily as the lightning bolts struck the two zombies, burning them to ashes.

"What are you saying?"

"I'll show you," chuckled Kenshin. "Activate quick-play spell card, A Deal with a Dark Ruler!" "What the hell is that?" snarled Zane.

"Just watch, oh young, ignorant one. When a level eight or higher monster is sent to the graveyard on my side of the field, I can use A Deal with a Dark Ruler to special summon a certain monster from my deck. I will now summon the monster that will kill you. The true ultimate zombie. I summon Berserk Dragon (3500 + 500 4000/0)!!!!!"

A large brown, nearly black dragon that had silver flowing hair, red glowing eyes, a long tail, powerful legs and arms then appeared. It let out a loud roar, showing its ferocity. The symbol of the Orichalcos glowed on its forehead. It was everything that Kenshin had described it to be. And more.

"However, it's still your turn. I'll use him to tear you apart next turn!"

Zane rolled his eyes and summoned a monster in defense mode. But behind his indifferent attitude, his heart was beating with worry. "_It's got four thousand attack points… What do I do?_"

"My move," chortled Kenshin. "Berserk Dragon, obliterate his monster with Berserk Blaze!" The massive beast roared loudly and fired a stream of black flames straight at the facedown card, which was revealed to be his Cyber Phoenix (1200/1600).

"End turn," snickered Kenshin. At that second, Berserk Dragon's ATK dropped to 3500. "My dragon loses 500 attack points every End Phase. However, it's far from weak."

Zane drew. He would be able to defend himself for two turns, maybe even three. But after that, the Berserk Dragon would finish him off. "I activate Cyber Dragon's effect to special summon it in defense mode." The metallic snake appeared, this time crouching low. It snarled at the zombie dragon on the other side of the field, not knowing how outmatched it was (2100/1600).

"Then I'll summon a monster in defense mode and end."

Kenshin didn't bother to look at the card he drew. "Berserk Dragon, obliterate his field with Berserk Blaze!" The undead creature screeched and a blaze of flames later, both monsters were destroyed. The facedown was another Infernal Dragon (2000/0). "What's going on?" asked Zane angrily. "How did it attack all my monsters."

"That's Berserk Dragon's effect. It can attack all your monsters at the same time. Too bad. Just don't be a sore loser." But Zane wasn't listening to him. He was staring at the top card of his deck. There was only one card in his deck that could save him from the Berserk Dragon. If he drew it, he would win the duel. If not… he shuddered to think of the consequences.

"DRAW!" he yelled and pulled the card out with a level of ferocity that only he was capable of. He glanced at the card and a small smile spread across his face. It grew bigger and bigger, until he bore a maniacal grin from ear to ear.

"This duel is over. Activate spell card, Overload Fusion! This lets me remove fusion material monsters for a dark attribute monster from my field or graveyard to summon that fusion to the field. I hereby remove the twelve machines in my graveyard to call forth a beast that dwarfs even my Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800). I call upon Chimeratech Overdragon!"

At that second, ghostly silhouettes of Zane's machines appeared. There were the three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600), the three Heavy Mech Support Platforms (500/500), Jinzo (2400/1500), Cyber Kirin (300/200), Cyber Phoenix (1400/1200), Cyber Barrier Dragon (800/2800) and Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2100). They were all pulled into a dark vortex, which expanded all over Zane's field. Then, a creature so monstrous emerged from the vortex that it put the Berserk Dragon to shame.

The monster on the field was a twelve headed Cyber Dragon. Its body was a long piece of metal with a spiked claw at the back. Right at the front were a few sapphires, and out of it sprouted the twelve heads. Each one was twisting in a different direction, spitting and roaring. The only reason that it was able to fit in the plane was because none of it's heads were pointing upwards. Even the Berserk Dragon didn't roar back.

"My Chimeratech Overdragon will be the instrument of your downfall." "Its just a stupid tin can with too many heads," spat Kenshin, in an attempt to save face.

Zane rolled his eyes. "My friend, the Chimeratech Overdragon, is a fusion of a Cyber Dragon and any number of machines. I used Overload Fusion to send twelve machines to the removed from play pile. That's where this bad boy's effect comes in. It has 800 attack and defense points for every fusion-material monster. I had twelve as I mentioned. And what does that equal to?"

Kenshin did the calculations in less than a second and gasped, "It's over nine thousand!" His fingers curled into a fist. Except unlike Nappa, he didn't have a scouter to crush.

Zane smiled grimly. "Quite correct. The second effect of Chimeratech Overdragon is that it can attack as many of my opponent's monsters each turn as the number of Fusion-Material Monsters I used for the Fusion Summon. But that doesn't matter does it? Because the duel is over, right here, right now."

He raised a finger dramatically. "Attack his Berserk Dragon and end this duel with Ultimate Strident Blaze!" The Chimeratech Overdragon (9600/9600) screeched. Each one of its jaws opened. Rainbow-colored energy exploded out of each mouth, spiraling towards the Berserk Dragon. They combined together to form one, massive blast which continuously plowed through the zombie dragon. It was obliterated within seconds. But it carried on and hit Kenshin, who was unable to move.

His face was fixed with shock as he was thrown against the wall of the Seal and kept there by the Ultimate Strident Blaze. He said nothing as the Seal began to contract around him. The Chimeratech Overdragon disappeared and Zane fell to his knees. Jaden and Alexis rushed over to help their friend as the Seal disappeared. Boy had it been a nasty day.

**Another chapter…. Another good duel. Six thousand words. Not bad, eh? I'm hoping to keep the remaining chapters in this range as well.**

**Anyway, I have an issue to address. I hope I don't offend anyone by saying that I find the reviews a bit strange. There is no criticism. It's not as if I don't appreciate the praise: I'm grateful to each and every one of you who have enjoyed and made good comments about my work. But I don't think this story is perfect. If you have anything to say to me, do it. I'm open to any suggestions and constructive criticism. But don't flame me. Otherwise I will find you. And when I do… you get the idea.**

**Also, I might be able to update on the second. I repeat, **_**might**_**. I have a ten hour wait at one airport, and if I'm not to jet-lagged, I'll use a computer in the lounge to throw out a three thousand word chapter or something of the sort.**

**Anyway, review and answer the two questions in the last chapter. Thanks. By the way, I crossed 2000 hits! A big hip-hip hooray for my readers!**

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

Original Cards: Zombie's Displacement, Unending Death 

**P.S. Kyle Gardner was submitted by my good friend, Blue Eyes White Knight. A big thank you to you. Tootles to all.**


	23. The Second God

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: The Second God

Umm…. it's frickin' huge! 

**Metal Overlord 2.0: I'm not gonna answer this review in detail, 'cuz it's really late. But thanks for the advice anyway.**

**Princess Yunariana: Thanks a lot. There's a surprise at the bottom.**

**BEWK: You get the credit for that. Kyle is after all, your character.**

"I won't let you win!" roared Kyle. "Activate Interdimensional Matter Transporter, throwing my Dark Magician of Chaos into the removed from play pile till the end of the turn." The Chaos Mage disappeared and the Darkness Inferno Blast crashed into the ground, instead, leaving a scorch mark.

Joey groaned again. "This is getting irritating!"

Kyle shook his head as the Dark Magician of Chaos reappeared. He added a card to the four already in his hand and said, "I activate Swords of Revealing Light, to block you from attacking for three turns!"

Three massive swords of light fell out of the sky between the two duelists. "Damn," muttered Joey. "I'm not planning on letting you win that easily. For now I'll set a facedown card and end my turn."

Joey drew, so that they both had three cards. "Pass," he said sourly.

One of the swords disappeared, and the Darkness Dragon growled.

It was back to Kyle. A small smile spread across his face as he drew. "It may look like I'm depending only on my Dark Magicians, but no. I have other monsters in store. This next one will be the end of you. I'll sacrifice Dark Magician Girl for Vanguard Magician (2500/0)."

The female spellcaster's face fell, and she disappeared. An ancient looking sorcerer replaced her. He was at least twelve feet tall, and covered in golden armor. His eyes shone red with wisdom and power, and in one hand he held an archmage's staff. It was pure white in color and a small smile spread across his face as he caught sight of the Darkness Dragon.

"It's a rare and powerful monster that can only be summoned by sacrificing a card with the words 'Dark Magician' in its name. It can't do anything on the turn it's summoned, so I'll leave it at that for now." The Vanguard Magician let out a chuckle as Kyle ended his turn.

Joey drew nervously, unsure about the new monster. It looked like a nasty piece of work, and the moment that Swords of Revealing Light expired, he'd blow it away. "I'll play Graceful Charity, which lets me draw three cards, but I have to discard two of em'." He picked up three cards from his deck.

He smirked. "I'll discard Baby Dragon (1200/700) and Blue Flame Swordsman (1800/1600) to give ma' dragon another 300 attack points, putting him at 3600!" Kyle was pretty oblivious to this development and said impatiently, "Just do what you have to." Joey then played the final card that he drew. "I'll play Fusion Recovery to bring back Polymerization and a Fusion-Material monster. I choose da' Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000)!" Kyle rolled his eyes in boredom.

"Next I'll play Polymerization to fuse my Red Eyes with the other dragon in my hand, Meteor Dragon (1800/2000) to fusion summon the Meteor Black Dragon (3500/3000)!"

The silhouettes of a rocky, large, orange dragon, and the Red Eyes, appeared and swirled together to form a powerful new beast. It was bipedal, and stood on two muscular legs. It's wings and most of its body was purple, and its torso was orange. Razor sharp, emerald claws supplement its deadly arsenal. "I put dis' card in ma' deck after we found out dat' we were goin' to duel Marik again! It's pretty rare, and this is the first time I'm playing it! What's more, the good old Red Eyes Darkness Dragon now gains another 300 attack points!" (3900/2000)

Kyle rolled his eyes and looked at his watch sarcastically, as if he was already tired of Joey. The blonde duelist then played Pot of Greed and drew two cards. "Pretty useful, cuz' I'll now play Monster Reborn: on the Black Skull Dragon (3200/2500)!!!!!!" The fiendish beast appeared next to the Darkness Dragon (3600/2000). "Now I'll play my last card: United We Stand! By equipping it with my Darkness Dragon, he gets 800 attack and defense points for every monster on my field, putting him at a whooping 6000!" (6000/4400)

The Darkness Dragon roared so loudly that everyone in the room shivered, except for the Vanguard Magician. He just stared imperiously at his opponent. "I'll end with that. You're done against my dragons!"

Kyle shook his head. "No, Wheeler. You're done." "Wha-…?" gasped Joey.

"I'll show you the might of my Vanguard Magician. I'll activate his special ability! By sacrificing all my monsters, I can destroy every card you have on the field! Now, Vanguard Magician! Go, Destruction Burst!" The massive magician raised his staff, and the Dark Magician and its Chaos counterpart crossed their staffs with it. They vanished into the Vanguard Magician in a flash of light.

Then the powerful mage raised his staff, and a golden blast of light issued forth. It hit the ceiling, and spread out into three more beams. Each one hit one of Joey's dragons, destroying them. The blonde duelist was shocked. "Dat's one powerful card ya' got there…"

"It is. The final part of its effect is that my Vanguard Magician's attack points are increased by 1000 for every monster that was destroyed. This lasts till the end of the turn… but it doesn't matter."

Joey nodded; a look of resignation on his face. "Looks like you are the better duelist kid." For once, Kyle didn't comment on the last word. "Vanguard Magician (5500/0), attack his life-points directly!" The spellcaster raised his staff, and a small beam of magical energy hit Joey's chest. He flinched slightly as his life-points hit 0. "Good duel."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Marik held out the deck to the lean, muscular duelist who was standing opposite him. The man eyed it greedily as he took it with shaking hands. "Don't screw this up," he warned. "I am entrusting you with the power of Obelisk the Tormentor, a beast that I would have normally not allowed you to look at. You better not mess up."

"Of course not, master," the man groveled. "You have your instructions. You are to duel the Pharaoh and the Pharaoh alone. It would seem odd that I'm sending you, one who is just a little above the level of my new recruit, Hunter, to duel the most powerful duelist Light has to offer, but with this deck your victory is guaranteed. I expect you to defeat him and take his Puzzle and God card. Kill him if you have to. But bring me those two items."

"Yes, master."

"Don't underestimate him. He possesses Slifer the Sky Dragon, which is a very formidable opponent. If he summons it, even the Tormentor will be worthless. Whatever you do, don't lose the duel."

"I will not."

"Good. Now get the hell out of my sight."

The duelist nodded and left Marik's chambers, leaving him to himself. He looked out of the window, deep in thought. He suddenly noticed a crowd around the Empire State Building's entrance. The door had been magically sealed shut, and cops had already arrived, trying to bust it down.

He smiled darkly. Closing his eyes, he said to a certain ally of his (mentally), "Yours or mine?"

Twenty floors below him, Dartz grinned maniacally, his eyes flashing green. "Mine."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The group of seven stared at horror at the TV screen in Yugi's room. It was on CNN, and a nervous looking lady was blustering, "Today at four p.m. EST, a large crowd had gathered outside the Empire State Building. The doors of the legendary monument had been shut and no one was able to open them. A passer-by discovered the body of a security guard in the area, and NYPD was alerted. Several men arrived on the scene."

She swallowed and continued. "After thirty-five minutes of trying to batter down the door, they opened normally and a man in a tunic left the building. Here is a picture of him." The screen became smaller, and a picture of a green-haired man in a white tunic appeared.

"Dartz," breathed Kaiba.

"The man screamed a few unintelligible words, and the entire area was bathed in green light. When the light cleared, every person in the crowd was dead. The man retreated into the building, and the doorway was impenetrable once again. We're now taking you live to the scene with our New York correspondent. Jason, can you tell us-…"

Someone switched off the TV. "This can't be happening," said Kaiba finally. "It has," said Tea grimly. "Anyone wants to fill me in?" inquired Kyle. His sister sighed and looked at Yugi. "You might as well tell him," said the King of Games.

"Fine," said Tea. "Five years ago…" She gave him a brief history of their battle with the Orichalcos and the incident with Marik during Battle City. He knew about the Egyptian Gods from the Battle City videos, but Tea omitted information about the Dark gods.

"So basically, two psycho maniacs want to take over the world," stated Kyle, after she had finished. "That's just about accurate," said Tea.

"Man, all 'dis history is makin' me thirsty," muttered Joey. "Yuge, could you pass me a soda from your fridge." He looked over to where his friend was sitting. More accurately, where his friend _was_ sitting. At that second, everyone realized what had happened. Tea rushed over to the closet, where Yugi kept his Duel Disk. It wasn't there.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"34th and Fifth," Yugi said shortly to the taxi driver. "Sure."

Yugi clutched his deck tightly as the cabbie revved up the car and began driving.

"_Damn Marik_," he thought angrily. "_What did those people do to him that he sent Dartz to kill them? They were all poor, defenseless and innocent bystanders. They have no part in this. That's exactly why it's time to end this._"

He looked out of the window as he seethed quietly. Suddenly, he yelled, "Hey, you passed it." There was no answer. Yugi leaned over the seat and repeated, "You passed it."

Suddenly, the man pressed a button and metal sheets slid up to cover the windows and the divider between driver and passenger. "What the hell?" snarled Yugi angrily. He punched the sheet, but it was at least an inch thick. He could hear yells and crashes, which meant that the driver was going at a very high speed. He continued to attempt to escape for a couple of minutes by angrily yelling at the driver to stop and continuing to assault the walls in rage.

"Let me take care of this joker," said Yami to Yugi. "Go ahead."

There was a flash of light, and Yami, the Pharaoh of Egypt, had reappeared in all his glory, his face disfigured by a terrible snarl. His Puzzle glowed and he shouted a command in ancient Egyptian. A blast of light flew out of the puzzle and crashed through the divider. It hit the driver's back, rendering him unconscious. But the car was still moving. At this rate, they would crash.

Yami sent out another blast, which blew away the door. To his surprise, they were in a dark alley. Yami jumped out just in time as the taxi crashed into the wall at the end of the alley.

He rushed over to the cab, only to find that the driver was now conscious. He wasn't too badly injured, as he had been protected by the airbag, and he was wearing a seatbelt. He grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up.

"Who sent you?" he snarled. "WHO SENT YOU?" Before he could answer, a creepy laugh sounded from the end of the alley. A gunshot sounded and the driver gave a small groan before he fell to the floor. A trickle of blood left his chest.

Yami wheeled around to see a man blocking the entrance off the alley. He looked lean and strong, and had long bluish-green hair coming down to his shoulders. He was dressed in a black coat, and he had angled features. He had a Duel Disk on one hand, and the other held a smoking revolver. "The name is Pentan. Unless you wish to die, hand over your Puzzle and God card."

In response to this, Yami fired a beam of energy at Pentan's gun, destroying it.

He raised an eyebrow. "Fine then. How about we settle this with a duel? My master Marik was very interested in acquiring those two Items, and I don't think he'll forgive failure."

"Why should I duel you?" snorted Yami.

"Because if you win, you'll get this." He slid a card out of his deck and held it up to Yami, who gasped at the sight. His heart began to race. There was no way he was turning down this challenge. Not with what he could win. It would give him a huge advantage.

"So are you going to duel or not?" smirked Pentan, sliding the card back into his deck. In answer, Yami activated his Duel Disk and slid his deck in. Pentan chuckled and did the same.

(Yami: 8000, Pentan: 8000)

"The first move is yours," said Pentan imperiously.

Yami drew his sixth card and thought, "_I've got no idea what his strategy is even if I know about that card he has. But with the example of Todaku, I have a feeling he's going to give me a hell of a duel. I'll play it defensively for now. Then I'll hit him with everything I've got._"

"I'll set a monster facedown in defense mode. That's all for now."

It appeared that Pentan was not one for taunting and small talk. He immediately drew his card. Yami found this quite surprising, as most of the lackeys he had faced tended to go on forever on how he had no chance in the duel, blah… blah… blah.

"I summon Knight of Obelisk (1800/1800) in attack mode." A warrior in blue armor appeared, with two large wings. It looked vaguely human, and held a sword in one hand. "What the hell?" yelled Yami.

"Where did you get a card like that? Pegasus never printed cards that benefited the God cards! This is insane!"

"My Master Marik was controlling that fool Pegasus. He had him make powerful cards for a large number of my comrades. It has aided us greatly in ridding the world of potential rivals of my master. But enough talk. Knight of Obelisk, attack his facedown card with Message of Chaos!"

The warrior raised it's sword and swung downwards. A wave of energy hit the hologram of the card, which flipped face up. It was a blue elf in a green robe. Her hands were joined in prayer. "Mystical Elf (800/2000) can whether your attack." The wave was deflected, and it hit the Knight of Obelisk itself. It was injured, but stood its ground.

"Fine," he growled. "I'll end my turn with a facedown." He slid a card into his Duel Disk, leaving him with four in his hand.

(Yami: 8000, Pentan: 7800)

Yami drew, giving him a full six cards. Now to go on the offensive. "I sacrifice my Mystical Elf for the Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!" The elf disappeared and was replaced by a massive fiend. It had purplish skin, with two large wings. It's head was a skull. "Attack Knight of Obelisk with Lightning Strike!"

The fiend shrieked and a bolt of lightning struck the knight. With a flash it was gone. However, a dark bolt of energy jumped out of Pentan's graveyard, and hit the fiend. It roared in pain but stood its ground. However, its attack power was reduced to 1900. "When Knight of Obelisk is destroyed in battle, the monster that killed it loses attack points equal to its level multiplied by 100."

Yami shrugged, knowing that Pentan would have to draw a four star monster with 2000 attack points to defeat it. But who knew what Marik had done….

(Yami: 8000, Pentan: 7100)

Pentan drew. "I'll set a monster facedown in defense mode and end my turn."

Yami drew. "I'll have the Summoned Skull attack your facedown monster!" The fiend roared and another bolt of lightning hit Pentan's facedown card, revealing a brown and white flying squirrel before it was fried to a crisp.

"You destroyed Nimble Momonga (1000/100)," stated Pentan, "and because of that, I gain 1000 Life Points and Special Summon the other two from my deck in facedown defense mode." He took the two stated cards from his deck and laid them on his Duel Disk, and the cards shimmered into view in front of him.

"Fine," snapped Yami. "I'll set one card facedown and end my turn."

(Yami: 8000, Pentan: 8100)

Pentan drew and smirked, "I sacrifice one of my Momongas to summon one of my more powerful cards. I summon Tormentor Dragon (2400/1800)!" The new beast was truly terrifying. It was a demonic dragon in blue armor, with large wings. Its eyes were a terrifying blood red, and it had hooked, evil-looking claws. It roared at Yami loudly.

"When Tormentor Dragon is tribute-summoned, I may special summon an Obelisk card from my graveyard. Ladies and gentleman, welcome back Knight of Obelisk (1800/1800)!" The knight reappeared next to its counterpart, and roared at the Summoned Skull, which in response, uttered a feeble growl.

"To top it of, I'll play Polymerization to fuse dragon and knight together to form Shining Dragon Paladin of Obelisk (3000/2800)!" The new monster was purplish-blue in color, and it had the knight sitting atop the dragon. However, it carried to lances instead of a sword, and the dragon was more serpentine.

"A powerful card that can only be summoned by fusion summon. This terrible beast has some powerful effects, but they don't come into play at this point. Instead, I'll first flip my second Momonga, and then have my fusion attack your weakened Summoned Skull!"

The Paladin raised both its lances as the dragon shrieked and sped forward. The fiend was torn apart by the lances and dragon. "Next my Momonga will attack you directly."

The flying squirrel leapt onto Yami's shoulder and bit him. Surprisingly, it hurt more than he had expected. "I'll end my turn."

(Yami: 5900, Pentan: 8100)

Yami was losing by more than two thousand life-points, and was also facing down a very powerful monster. If he wasn't able to do something fast, it would be all over ……

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba stared intensely at his laptop as Yami's location appeared as a blinking dot in the mess of streets on Ninth Avenue. He had used Kaiba Corp.'s network to find the location of Yami's Duel Disk.

"He's in an alley on 72nd and Ninth. It's one of the less safe areas. But he can take care of himself. What I'm worried about is that he's dueling someone. According to the computers that have scanned this guy's deck…"

"What is it Kaiba?" asked Tea.

"He has Obelisk the Tormentor."

Everyone in the room gasped. "'Dis is one of Marik's goons! We have to get 'dere and stop 'da duel!" Kaiba shook his head. "There's no point in that. Yugi still has Slifer, and stands a good chance of winning the duel. If he does, we gain Obelisk the Tormentor, which will benefit us further. But if he doesn't…."

Everyone fell silent at this thought. Kaiba took out his cell phone and called reception to prepare a car for them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, on the Duelist Kingdom island, Pegasus was in his study. He stared intently at the screen of his laptop. This entire ordeal had been stressing him out a lot, and his skin was pale. Yugi-boy was dueling one of Marik's goons, who possessed the set of cards that Marik had forced Pegasus to design, for his use. They were overpowered, and even Yugi would have a tough time against them.

Unable to take it anymore, he gestured at the two guards at either side of the door to leave. They obeyed him.

As he heard the door click shut, he bent down and opened one of the drawers of his desk. He pulled out a large case. He opened it, and stared at the large number of cards that he had originally designed, but there had been no point in giving them to anyone, as they were too powerful. But maybe the time had come now.

He got up and walked over to the end of the room, which had his personalized filming studio, which he could operate himself, when he had to send private messages to his contacts. He settled himself in the chair and switched on the camera.

"Yugi-boy," he began. "In the recent events of late, I have decided to-…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami drew and glanced at his hand. He still had six cards, but at the moment, none of his monsters could stand up to the Shining Dragon Paladin of Obelisk. But then again, his hand was poised for a takedown, only if he drew the right card…

"I set a monster in defense mode and one card facedown. I end my turn."

Pentan drew. "Nimble Momonga, attack his monster!" The squirrel leapt into the air and slashed at his card. It was revealed to be an orange, pumpkin-like fiend. "Your pathetic Sangan didn't stand a chance," smirked Pentan.

Yami countered. "But I do get to add a monster with an ATK of 1500 or less from my deck to my hand. I choose Magician of Faith (300/400)."

"I don't care. Now, Shining Dragon Paladin of Obelisk, attack him directly!" The massive beast roared and plummeted towards Yami. He braced him for the imminent pain that would come. It came all right. It knocked him off his feet as he yelled in agony. As he stood up angrily, he threw off his burnt shirt to reveal the black vest that he wore.

"I've had enough," he said viciously. "I'm going to defeat you the hard way." His Puzzle began to glow as darkness began to flow in from their surroundings. Just a little at first, but then it came in floods. "I never thought the greatest hero of Light would use the Shadow Realm," mused Pentan. Yami gasped with the exertion of calling upon the darkness: he had never done it before.

Finally, the entire area was swathed in darkness. "Now," said Yami venomously. "You are doomed. I may be a 'good guy', but enough is enough. Your group has done enough damage. Now they will all pay. Starting with you. You took that man's life like it was nothing at all. You killed someone's son, someone's husband, someone's father, someone's cousin…. Do you have any idea how many lives you've destroyed?!"

Pentan put up a show of counting on his fingers. "I dunno… If you include distant relatives and friends, thirty, maybe forty?"

Yami drew and snarled, "I remove from play the Mystical Elf and Summoned Skull to call upon Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!" A powerful warrior appeared. It was dressed in shiny green and gray armor and was clutching a massive sword."Next I'll activate his effect to remove Shining Dragon Paladin of Obelisk from play!"

The soldier leapt forward and with a swing of its sword it cleaved its enemy in half. Pentan fell to the ground and grunted in pain. Yami looked on at him. "Thanks to the Shadow Realm, you'll feel pain every time you lose a monster."

Pentan stood up, and glared at his opponent. "_I hate you_."

He said these words in such a dark voice that normally Yami would have been careful, but he gave his opponent an equally dark look and said, "Does it look like I give a damn'?"

Pentan snarled angrily and drew. "I switch my Momonga into defense mode and I'll also play another monster in defense mode."

Yami drew absently. He was beginning to calm down, but only slightly. "I'll summon the Gemini Elves (1900/900) in attack mode!" A pair of dark elves dressed in blue, appeared on the field. "First I'll have Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning attack both the Momonga and your facedown. Double Chaos Blade!" Black Luster Soldier flew across the field at great speed, slashing casually through both monsters.

The Momonga burst apart and boosted Pentan's life-points by a further one thousand, and the second one was revealed to be a huge black blob of living matter. "Giant Germ (1000/100) is the opposite of Nimble Momonga. When this card is sent to the Graveyard as a result of battle, I can inflict 500 points of damage to your Life Points. I _can _special summon two more from my deck, but they have to be in face-up attack position. So there's really no point."

Yami grimaced as he felt a dull pain in his chest. His life-points were down to 2400, while Pentan was soaring at 9100.

"Fine. But I can still have the Gemini Elves attack you directly. Ancient Elfish Strike!" The elves disappeared, and reappeared above Pentan. They stamped down hard on him and he snarled in pain as he lost a chunk of life-points. "End turn."

Pentan drew. "I set a monster in defense mode and one card facedown to end my turn."

The two holograms of facedown cards appeared.

Yami drew and smirked, "Black Luster Soldier, attack his monster and then attack his life-points directly with Double Chaos Blade!" The massive soldier lunged forward, but before its sword could touch the facedown, Pentan reacted. "Activate Negate Attack to end your Battle Phase!"

Yami shook his head in anger and snarled, "I'll end my turn, but next turn I'll finish you!"

Pentan drew. "I summon Guardian of Obelisk (0/2500) in attack mode." A more thickset version of the Knight of Obelisk appeared. Instead of a sword, it carried a very large shield, and its wings were wrapped protectively around itself. Yami smirked.

"Zero attack points? You've got to be kidding me."

"Just watch me. I activate Shield and Sword to swap the ATK and DEF of all monsters on the field." Yami gasped. Now the Guardian of Obelisk's ATK was equal to that of his soldier. "I will have to suicide, but its good-bye to that pesky soldier of yours. Attack with Guardian's Fist!"

The monster stood up and spread out its wings. It spread out its wings and threw its shield aside. With a roar it rushed forward and punched its opponent. The punch tore through the envoy's armor, but at the same time the Chaos monster slashed off its attacker's head. The two roared in pain and fell down as they faded away.

"I end my turn," said Pentan nastily.

Yami drew and said shortly, "I summon Dark Blade (1800/1500) in attack mode." A tall, dark warrior appeared. He was shrouded by a dark cape and carried a massive sword.

"Now, Gemini Elves and Dark Blade, double-direct attack!" The warrior brought its sword down to generate a wave of darkness, and the elves, instead of executing their normal, kicking attack, blasted Pentan with dark energy as well.

"End turn."

(Yami: 2900, Pentan: 5400)

Pentan drew and smirked, "Activate Card of Sanctity so the both of us can draw until we hold six cards." Yami raised an eyebrow as he drew two cards and Pentan drew three. The Obelisk duelist smirked and said, "Well, well, well… Fortune has been on my side."

"Just play," Yami rolled his eyes.

"With pleasure. I activate Monster Reborn to revive Tormentor Dragon (2400/1800)." The monstrous reptile reappeared and roared at Yami, who frowned. That dragon could defeat either of his monsters with ease.

"Then I'll sacrifice it and pay 2000 life-points for one of my most powerful monsters! Meet the invincible DIVINE DRAGON OF OBELISK (2500/2500)!" Yami shivered.

The Tormentor Dragon keeled over and shrieked. Spikes began to burst out of its back and its purplish-blue hide began to turn blood red. Its wings grew bigger, and its claws grew until they were perhaps a foot long.

Finally, when the beast looked up, Yami could tell that its eyes were those of a beast gone insane. "Divine Dragon of Obelisk can only be summoned when Tormentor Dragon is sacrificed. At the same time I must pay two thousand life-points. But it's well worth the cost."

He threw his hand backwards dramatically. "It gains four hundred attack points for every Obelisk monster in my graveyard or on the field… including itself!!!!"

"Oh crap," muttered Yami under his breath.

"Lets see… we've got Knight of Obelisk, Tormentor Dragon, Guardian of Obelisk, Shining Dragon Paladin of Obelisk and Divine Dragon of Obelisk itself. That's a total of two thousand extra attack points, which means Divine Dragon of Obelisk now has forty five hundred attack points!"

Yami groaned at this. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"Nope. Now, attack his Elves with Chaotic Judgment!" A large blast of black energy issued forth from the Divine Dragon of Obelisk's maw. It crashed into the Gemini Elves and just as they were going to be blown apart, a swarm of the ever-familiar Kuribohs appeared between the two. They were blown away as well, though.

"I discarded Kuriboh (300/200) to save me from what would have been 2600 points of damage," said Yami shortly.

Pentan shrugged. "Oh well. End turn for now I guess."

Yami drew and a grin spread across his face. "I now sacrifice Dark Blade for my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)." The female apprentice of the Dark Magician appeared. She seemed to understand the situation, and glared bravely at Pentan.

"Next I'll play Sage's Stone, which lets me automatically summon my Dark Magician (2500/2100)." The ever-familiar purple-robed spellcaster appeared next to his apprentice and glared at Pentan as well.

"Finally I'll play Knight's Title, to sacrifice my Dark Magician for the almighty Dark Magician Knight (2500/2100) from my deck." The Dark Magician was suddenly engulfed in a blinding flash of light; when that light subsided a few minutes later, in place of his magician's robes he was now wearing a purple suit of armor and wielding a sword.

"When the Dark Magician Knight is summoned, he can destroy a card on your field. My choice is obviously your Divine Dragon of Obelisk." Even as Pentan snarled in anger, Dark Magician Knight raised his sword, charged with mystic energy, and rushed at the dragon. Jumping into the air, he let loose with one massive downward stroke – and seconds later the Divine Dragon of Obelisk was slashed in half and with a shriek of pain, it disappeared.

"I forgot to mention that since my Dark Magician is in the graveyard, Dark Magician Girl gains 300 attack points, putting her at 2300."

"Now, Dark Magician Knight and Dark Magician Girl, direct attack!"

Pentan braced himself for the pain as the Dark Magician Girl first hit him with a full on Dark Burning Attack, and then the Dark Magician Knight slashed his chest. He was barely able to maintain his balance as his life-points fell to a tiny amount.

"I end my turn."

(Yami: 2900, Pentan: 600)

Pentan drew angrily and snarled, "Activate Swords of Revealing Light, to block you from attacking for a full three of your turns." Three massive swords of light fell out of the sky between Yami's monsters, and Pentan, making sure that the King of Games couldn't attack. "Next I'll play Pot of Greed, to draw two more cards from my deck."

He did so, giving him a total of three cards. A dark grin spread across his face. "I'll play Different Dimension Capsule. It's a powerful, if risky card. I'll show you how it works. I must first select a card of my choice in my deck, and remove it from play."

He selected the card of his choice and slipped it into the removed-from-play pile of his Duel Disk. "Different Dimension Capsule must remain on the field. If it isn't destroyed by my second Standby Phase after activation, I can add that card to my hand!"

"That's gotta be broken!" shouted Yami.

"No. If Different Dimension Capsule is destroyed, then the card stays removed from play. It's basically a question of luck. But don't let me hinder you. I'll summon a monster facedown in defense mode and let you make your move. If you can."

Yami drew and a drop of sweat rolled down his forehead. In exactly two turns, Pentan would be able to add that card to his hand. And Yami had a feeling he knew what it was… "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." One of the swords disappeared.

Pentan drew. "I flip-summon my Hyena (1000/300)." The monster was just that- a hyena. Except this one was larger than a normal one, and had evil, yellow eyes. "Next I'll equip it with Megamorph, doubling its attack points to two thousand." The hyena grew slightly, so that it was a match in size for the Dark Magician Girl.

"Next I'll have Hyena attack your Dark Magician Girl!" The scavenger shrieked and leapt towards the female spellcaster. The Dark Magician Girl fired a blast from her staff at the Hyena, which exploded in mid-air. Yami shook his head. Why would Pentan want to lose his monster unnecessarily?

"I know what your thinking. There's a reason why I killed my Hyena just like that. Its because when Hyena is destroyed, I can special summon another two from my deck!" Two more hyenas appeared and growled at Yami, who was even more worried. "Tribute fodder… How could I have been so dumb?!"

"Next I'll set two cards facedown and end my turn." This left Pentan with only three hundred life-points and no cards in his hand. Yami was leading by all appearances, with twenty-nine hundred life-points and three cards in his hand, not to mention his two powerful spellcasters. But they both knew that Pentan had something planned.

Yami drew, and knew that if he didn't do something this instant, Pentan would be able to do spring his trap next turn. He had to act. Now. "Activate Mystical Space Typhoon, to blow away your Swords!" A tornado appeared and destroyed the remaining two swords.

"Dark Magician Knight, attack one of the Hyenas now!" Just as the Knight raised his sword, Pentan acted. "I'll activate Wabuko, defending my Hyenas till the end of the turn." Three purple-robed mages appeared and blocked the two spellcasters from attacking the hyenas.

Yami snarled in rage, the Shadow Realm fueling his anger. "I swear… I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

At that second, Yami heard another familiar voice come from Pentan's mouth. It wasn't Pentan though….

"_Rage on! Release it all and destroy this pathetic little fool and let the Shadow Realm guide you in destruction! LET YOUR RAGE CONTROL YOU!" _Yami felt the voice in his head as well.

"SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

The force of these words were punctuated by the Millennium Puzzle, which released a wave of energy that knocked Pentan of his feet. Yami fell to his knees as well, his fury spent.

But now it was Pentan's turn to be furious. His head was throbbing as he stood up and roared at Yami. "Make your pathetic move so that I can end this!" There wasn't a thing Yami could do. Nothing at all. He stared helplessly at his three cards and whispered, "End turn."

Pentan snapped the top card off his deck and slipped the card he had used Different Dimension Capsule on out of the removed-from-play pile. "I'll activate my final face-down card, Call of the Haunted, to revive the final Hyena."

The victim of Yami's Dark Magician Girl appeared next to its brothers. Instead of growling or snarling, it looked at Pentan and whimpered. He ignored it and said, "It's time. Time to die that is. I sacrifice my three Hyenas for my God! I SUMMON OBELISK THE TORMENTOR (4000/4000)!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Just as the rented limousine drew up to the alley on Ninth Avenue, all six of the people in the car exclaimed at darkness clouding the alley. "It's 'dat darn Shadow Realm! Marik must have done something," growled Joey.

"No," said Kaiba, who was driving, quietly. "What?"

"Marik is in the Empire State Building. If the building opened, it would surely hit the news, just like when Dartz killed all those people. No, for some reason, I don't think Marik is responsible for this."

"Well, you need a Millennium Item to do this," said Tea. "Discounting Marik, it leaves Shadi, Pegasus, Bakura and Ishizu. None of them are in New York, which can only mean…" Everyone fell silent, and though they didn't want to believe it, they knew it was true. The one who had called on the Shadow Realm was…. Yami.

"No time to think about this," snapped Kaiba as he shoved the car against the pavement. It was directly next to a fire hydrant, but he didn't care.

They leapt out, even as Kyle said, "What the heck is going on?" Tea muttered, "Remember the Shadow Realm that I was telling you about? The thing that Marik Ishtar had been using in Battle City?" Her brother nodded. "Well, it looks like Yugi, for some reason, has done the same thing."

"You've gotta be-…" At that second, windows all over the place burst open, and men dressed in black bodysuits appeared. They were all similar, tall, lean, and muscular, and all wore masks

The formed a circle around the six friends (the term friend could be used very, very, very, loosely on Kaiba).

One of them stepped forward and took of his mask, to reveal a clean-shaven face. He smirked at Kaiba. "I thought we'd missed a group when we combed this area. It seems my men are going to get an extra six today." "What are you saying," said Kaiba through gritted teeth. Even as he did this, he observed the men from the corner of his eye. There were at least fifty of them. Compared to the six that him, Tristan, Kyle, Joey, Tea, and Serenity formed.

Kyle was a kid, and Tea and Serenity, wouldn't be much of a help. Even though he knew from personal experience how hard Tea's slaps could be, he knew that him, the mutt, and pencil-head were going to be fighting a hopeless battle.

"I think you know what I mean. My group was meant to empty this area, if you catch my drift. Looks like you blokes are the last ones for us. Marik will be happy." Kaiba's heart was pounding. If Marik had sent these goons, then they were definitely going to go all out.

The leader took a few steps back, and with a smirk said to his men, "You might as well give no quarter."

At that second, Kaiba threw off his trench coat, to reveal a black bodysuit. It was tight but very flexible. Joey followed his example and shrugged off his green jacket so that he was wearing only a white tank top. Tristan also took off his trench coat, to reveal a T-shirt and denim pants. Kaiba said out of the corner off his mouth to the two girls and Kyle, "Get behind us."

Kyle walked forward and said, "Not me. I'm fighting." Kaiba shrugged. There was no point in arguing. The four of them formed a square around Tea and Serenity. There was silence for a minute. Then the leader smirked and said, "Go ahead." With a roar the fifty men charged forward, surrounding them. Everyone tensed as the first man reached them.

Kaiba lashed out with all his considerable strength, and sent the man sprawling. Joey landed the next blow, breaking someone's jaw. Tristan's long leg got someone in the gut.

It wasn't long before they were absolutely boxed in. They were fighting with all their might, but there were simply two many. Kaiba's massive fists sent men flying, while Joey and Tristan wildly broke any bones and knocked anyone out within their reach. Kyle was surprisingly good. He fought with the skill of a seasoned holder of a black belt, which he did happen to have achieved.

Kaiba found himself fighting with desperate fervor that he had never experienced. He delivered a roundhouse kick into someone's gut and realized that there was only one way they would survive this fight. He grunted as someone got him in the gut, but he elbowed the aggressor in the face. He growled to Joey, "I know how to beat these guys. Cover me."

Without waiting for an answer, he withdrew behind Joey, Tristan and Kyle, who were hopelessly outnumbered. Kyle was knocked off his feet by an extra-hard punch. "Where the hell is Kaiba?" roared Joey as he ducked a punch and dragged Kyle to his feet. The CEO had disappeared. He wasn't with Tea and Serenity.

As if in answer, a roar echoed from the sky. Everyone looked up in shock to see Kaiba's Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800), in all its glory, a hundred feet above the ground. On its back, glaring down at the enemy, was Seto Kaiba.

The thirty-five remaining men retreated in fear. "NEUTRON BLAST ATTACK!" roared Kaiba. The dragon opened each of its three mouths and a massive blast of energy left each mouth. The three columns of power crashed into the desperately fleeing group of thugs, and every one of them was incinerated, even as the Gardner siblings, Joey, Tristan and Kaiba watched in terror.

The smoke was suffocating, and the five companions fell to their knees coughing. They couldn't get the fact out of their mind that Kaiba had ended so many lives. The dragon landed and with a single flap of its wings dispelled the smoke.

It let out an earth-shattering howl of victory. Kaiba jumped off as it began to disappear. He walked over to a shaking Serenity and put his arms around her in a most un-Kaiba like fashion. After he released her, he looked at Joey. "I had no choice," said the CEO coldly. "It was our lives or theirs. I don't think any of you would have disagreed with me on _that_ particular choice."

Joey shook his head and the six quietly walked over to the pulsating darkness of the Shadow Realm. "So Yugi's in 'dat thing?" asked Joey grimly. "Apparently," answered Tea.

"Well I'm gonna get him out!" yelled Joey, and before anyone could say a word of protest, he punched the darkness that made up the Shadow Realm. His fist sank maybe a few inches into it and he gave a scream of pain and was thrown back ten feet. He landed on his back, and gave a groan.

His sister rushed up to him and helped him to his feet. "What the hell?" he gasped. Tea, who was staring at the darkness, said softly, "Yami doesn't want interference. The person whom he's dueling must have done something really horrible. Plus, this Shadow magic is powerful. Thanks to it, Kaiba's dragon was able to inflict physical damage. Don't try anything. It could kill you."

"So we wait," said Kaiba grimly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami had to throw his arm up to protect himself from the flying dust. The three Hyenas had disappeared, and a monolithic column of blinding light had erupted from the ground. A deep roar echoed throughout the darkness.

As the light began to clear, the blue titan revealed itself. Its wings spread out and its red eyes gazed at Yami angrily. Its gigantic fists were clenched as the very darkness around it seemed to tremble. This was Obelisk the Tormentor, the Immense Divine Soldier of Egypt, in all its glory.

"And if that's not enough," said Pentan maliciously, "I'll add one final card to seal your fate. In a most literal way. I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!!!"

When he opened his field spell card slot and placed the card in, his Duel Disk glowed slightly green. A beam of green light then shot into the air from his Duel Disk. The beam instantly cut through the darkness of the Shadow Realm, instantly dissolving it. "My Shadow Game!!" gasped Yami, seeing it dissipate.

"The Seal of Orichalcos is much more powerful than _your _pathetic Shadow Magic. Being so weak, it's a wonder you were able to defeat Marik in Battle City. The Seal grants Obelisk a bonus five hundred attack points, to make him even more invincible!"

Obelisk (4500/4000) roared as the symbol of the Orichalcos appeared on its forehead. To Yami's shock, the Seal had not appeared on Pentan's forehead. Seeing Yami staring at him, Pentan explained, "I am above the Seal. Fools like Grimo and Todaku were not strong enough to resist it. But I my will does not succumb to this magic. To me, it is just a card."

Yami shot back, "You can't be that powerful. Even _I _couldn't resist it." "Perhaps," said an icy voice from Pentan's throat. Yami snarled. He knew that voice. It belonged the Marik.

"You're right," continued Marik. "This fool is not strong enough to resist it. My Shadow Magic, however, can do so. I was sick and tired of losing endless good duelists to the Seal. Even if they won, their will wasn't strong enough to resist it. They began to depend on the Seal and nothing else. Without it, their dueling was pathetic. I decided to experiment on this idiot here. He will be able to view the Seal as a card, and nothing else. That's thanks to my Shadow Magic empowering his mind."

An icy smile spread across the duelist's face. "You will now lose knowing that you were dealing with a force that dwarfs the Seal of Orichalcos. Goodbye Pharaoh. Its quite ironic that you're going to be crushed by Obelisk, for you nearly used him to defeat me. Now I'll let Pentan defeat you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Suddenly, Kaiba saw a burst of green light erupting from the center of the darkness. It completely destroyed the Shadow Realm. His heart sank. Things only got worse. The Seal of Orichalcos was now in play. As all the darkness disappeared, he was shocked to see the massive form of Obelisk the Tormentor towering over the duelists.

"Yugi," cried out Tea in fear. Yami looked over his shoulder to see the group of his friends. Without realizing what she was doing, she ran up to the Seal and attempted to get in. But it was, of course, hopeless. Yami sadly turned away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Whoa…," gasped Joey. "'Dat's Obelisk 'da Tormentor." "We can see that," said Kaiba coldly.

"Has Yugi got a chance?" asked Kyle quietly. Kaiba shrugged. "I don't know. It all depends on his next draw."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Obelisk," roared Pentan. "Attack his Dark Magician Girl with Fist of Fury!" The massive beast roared and its mighty fist descended, like a meteor heading towards the impact point. The Dark Magician Girl reacted as any would in such a situation, and tried to flee. But Obelisk's ruthless fist hit her full on. She was vaporized before she even felt the pain.

And Yami fell to his knees. He had failed everybody. Despite his skill and power, this was the end.

"That's right," roared Pentan. "It's over. Your miserable life is at an end. You will fall before me!!"

All his friends could do was watch in horror as the once powerful ruler was brought to his knees. But despite all of his old companion's terror, Kaiba was the most shocked of all.

This was Yugi Moto. The one who had single-handedly done things Kaiba could only dream off. In the beginning, Kaiba had hated him. He loathed him as the one who had stolen his place in the limelight, as the one who had taken his status. Then, slowly, very slowly, he began to develop a bit of respect for the King of Games.

It was small, but it existed. And Kaiba refused to believe that this was the end for Yugi. He had gotten out of worse situations then this. He clenched his fists and shouted out a very familiar line, "_Since when do you bow to your rivals_?"

Everyone turned to look at him. Yami stared blankly at the CEO and answered in a cold voice, "_Never_." Kaiba shook his head. This was really déjà vu. "_In that case, I don't think you should start_."

Yami stood up, a slow confident look spreading over his face. "_Very true_."

Tea took it up. "That guy may have the advantage in cards, but you have one advantage over him that no card will be able to topple! He's alone, while you have us! Even if we're not _with_ you, we'll be in your heart!"

Kaiba smirked the classic, Kaiba smirk. "Deal with the trash."

Yami answered, "With pleasure."

(Yami: 400, Pentan: 300)

Yami slowly drew and looked over his hand. Not much he could do. "I switch Dark Magician Knight to defense mode. I'll end my turn."

"Pathetic," roared Pentan. "Obelisk, deal with that pathetic excuse for a warrior. Fist of Fury!"

Yami grimaced and braced himself as the giant fist crushed his monster. Now all Yami had left was his one facedown monster. That wouldn't be enough. That wouldn't be enough at all.

He slowly drew and almost groaned. The card he had drawn would have been good at any time, at least, normally, but not now! But slowly a plan developed in his mind to get him out of this mess. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Pentan drew with the ferocity of a wild animal. Yami could tell that although he was the duelist, Obelisk was his master instead of the other way around. What with the fighting influence of the Seal, he would soon be little better than a feral, mindless beast.

"I summon a second Knight of Obelisk (1800/1800)!!!" Another, blue-armored knight appeared next to its master. Although large in its own right, the ancient god dwarfed it. "Knight of Obelisk, destroy his facedown monster!"

The knight rushed forward and hacked through the card, which happened to be Yami's Queen's Knight (1500/1600). "Now, Obelisk, end it with a final direct attack!!!!!"

The great beast raised its massive fist and with a titanic roar brought it down on Yami. He reacted quickly to save himself from life-point and physical damage. "I activate Nutrient Z! If I'm going to be dealt 2000 or more points of damage, I'm granted 4000 life-points before the Damage Step!"

Even as he said these words, he used the Puzzle to generate a golden, magical shield around himself. The great fist hit it, but the shield still held, although Yami could actually feel it vibrating. He gasped and let the shield lapse as the massive God withdrew its fist.

Pentan was beside himself with rage. "Next turn, you're doomed," he shouted the clinched line. Yami shook his head. "Is it just me, or did all you villains go to the same catch phrase learning classes?"

Pentan snarled, "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

He smirked and picked up a card from his deck. He was back down to four hundred life-points. It wasn't much, but it was letting him hang on. He narrowed his eyes at the brilliant hand. Perfect.

"Prepare yourself Pentan," he shouted, his voice filled with confidence and determination. He was no longer going to allow his rage to control him. The Shadow Realm no longer controlled him. No. He was the Pharaoh Atem of Egypt. He was the King of Games in all his glory.

First I activate the facedown Return from the Different Dimension. I pay half my life-points to summon any of my monsters that are removed from play. There are only two. The Mystical Elf and Summoned Skull." The elf and demon appeared in front of him. The elf began to pray, and the demon roared at Obelisk.

"Then I activate Change of Heart on your Knight of Obelisk, bringing him to my side of the field for this turn." The Knight of Obelisk disappeared and reappeared on Yami's field. "Finally I sacrifice all three for my ultimate beast! I summon Slifer the Sky Dragon (X000/X000)!!!!!!"

The three monsters disappeared in columns of light, and a hole appeared in the clouds as energy glowed around Yami. A red armored dragon began to push its way through the hole in the sky. The blue jewel on its head seemed to practically pulse with power, and the two immense, teeth-filled maws beneath it were crackling with energy. It's fully extended wings now eclipsed the sky. Lastly, the two, weak-looking claws just beneath its wings were razor-sharp. It descended until it was about a dozen feet above Yami.

Pentan watched it in fear, knowing that Yami's God was above his. The Pharaoh spoke confidently. "Slifer has a thousand attack points for every card in my hand. There are three, so it has three thousand attack and defense points."

Pentan sneered, realizing that Slifer was still weaker than Obelisk. "It's strength is lower by fifteen hundred points. That is pathetic." Yami glared at Pentan. "Watch me." "You can't be seriously-…." But at the look on Yami's face he decided to shut up.

"I activate Pot of Greed, to draw two cards from my deck, giving me a total of four." He drew two cards, giving Slifer a thousand more attack points, to put it at four thousand, still five hundred below Obelisk. "To end, I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." Slifer roared as its strength reduced back to three thousand.

Pentan shook his head and drew. Excellent. The card in his hand would save him no matter what. "Go Obelisk, end it with Fist of Fury!" Obelisk lunged forward and threw its fist at Slifer's torso. "I activate my facedown card, Reckless Greed! By skipping my next to draw phases, I can draw two cards from my deck, giving Slifer five thousand attack points!!"

In response the dragon opened its top mouth and sent thousand if not millions of ergs of power rushing towards the other god's attack. And with tremendous power the two attacks collided, pushing against each other in a battle for supremacy.

The two duelists watched, focused as they could possibly be as the two titans pushed back and forth against each other. Finally, Slifer's attack began to push forward even further. Obelisk roared and attempted to punch through the blast, but was unable to. Yami smirked triumphantly as Slifer opened it's jaws wide and with one final push, the Thunder Force crashed into Obelisk, resulting in a massive explosion.

All of Yugi's friends began to cheer, knowing that with 300 life-points left, Pentan didn't stand a chance.

But as the smoke cleared, they saw Pentan standing confidently with everyone of his life-points remaining. What was worse, Obelisk was on the field as well. Pentan was holding up a card. "I activated the quick-play spell, Offerings for God's Rebirth! By removing five Obelisk monsters from play, I can make me and Obelisk untouchable to any kind of damage during this turn. Tough luck. What's more, I get to draw a card."

Yami was silent at this. It disturbed him that Pentan had such a powerful card, but he knew that Slifer was still more powerful than Obelisk.

Pentan snapped the top card off his deck. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yami confidently declared, "Slifer, annihilate Obelisk and put an end to this!" Pentan reacted quickly. "I counter with Command Silencer!" Yami gasped as a large totem pole appeared in front of Slifer's attack.

"Slifer may be unaffected by card effects, but Command Silencer affects not it, but any monster's attack. Plus I get to draw one card. So there's nothing you can do." Yami ended his turn in despair.

Pentan drew in a bored manner. "Activate Megamorph, to double Obelisk's attack points to 9000!" Yami's eyes widened as Obelisk's physical stature as well as his ATK doubled in size. "Now there is hope for you! Attack with Fist of Fury!"

Yami knew he was taking a risk. But he would have to do it. "I discard Kuriboh (300/200) to protect me from that damage!" Pentan's howl of rage echoed throughout the alley. He fell to his knees in rage as Obelisk's fist crashed through the wall of fur balls and annihilated the Sky Dragon. But Yami didn't lose any life-points.

As if trying to reassure himself, he snarled, "There's nothing you can do….. Nothing at all. I end my turn."

Yami couldn't draw, but he looked confidently and coldly at Pentan. "Actually there is. For starters I'll play Monster Reborn to revive Slifer the Sky Dragon (4000/4000)." Pentan pointed out angrily, "It's far too weak!"

"For now, maybe. I now activate Jar of Greed, to draw a card from my deck." Yami almost fell over at the sight of the card he had drawn.

"Relax Pharaoh," a voice giggled behind him. As Yugi whirled around, he saw the ever-familiar Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700). It seemed as though no one else knew that she was there, for they were all watching the field.

"Is it really you?" he gasped.

"Of course it is. It's really nice to meet you after so long, _buuuuuutttttt _we'll have to skip the catching up for now. I'm here to inform you that with the return of the Orichalcos, our three old friends have been woken to help you, Sir Wheeler and Sir Kaiba combat it."

"So the Legendary Dragons are truly back?"

"Yes. But I'm afraid that they will be in dragon form, as they will only transform into their knight state when you use the power of Legend of Heart. However, such a weapon is intended for one time use. It takes tremendous energy to forge, but if you ever require it in a desperate situation, you will have it. For now, the dragons should be enough."

"Thank you, Dark Magician Girl," he said sincerely.

"Don't thank me. It seems that you are forgetting that the Dominion of Beasts is in your debt. After all, it was you who crushed the Orichalcos last time around. Don't worry. We will ensure that you will be able to do it again. Until next time." She raised a hand in parting. Yami copied the gesture as she faded away. He looked back to the card he had just drawn.

"Are you gonna make your move or not?" said Pentan arrogantly. Yami glared back at him and said, "Oh yes I will! I play the Legendary Dragon, the Eye of Timeaus!!!!!!"

His friends gasped at this. No one had been expecting this at all. A large, green dragon appeared. It was perhaps twenty feet long, and it flapped its massive wings as it glared at Pentan. "Timeaus' effect states that it can fuse with any monster to form a new monster! I will now show you my full power! Timeaus! Fuse with Slifer!!!!"

The two dragons slowly got pulled into a large vortex. Multi-colored flashes of light blinded everyone except Yami, who just stared confidently at the vortex. As it began to settle, a tall, humanoid figure appeared from the vortex.

It was about ten feet tall, and clad in crimson armor. Its face was surprisingly handsome, and it had a helmet like Slifer's upper jaw. In one hand it carried a deadly, long sword. Instead of a cape, the knight had two large, red and black, dragon-like wings on each shoulder. It landed slowly on the ground in front of Yami, dwarfed by Obelisk. It was however, giving off a radiant light…..

"I'd like you to meet Timeaus, Ruler of the Skies (X000/X000)," smirked Yami.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What the hell is that thing?" gasped Joey. Tea, Serenity, Tristan and Kyle were speechless.

"I don't know," smirked Kaiba. "But Obelisk had better watch out. It's facing the combination of an Egyptian God and a Legendary Dragon."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Timeaus' effect is actually quite simple," stated Yami. "For one, it destroys all spell and trap cards on the field when it's summoned, so say goodbye to Megamorph." Obelisk decreased in size and its ATK fell down to 4500.

"It's a far more powerful version of Slifer, but its other effects don't come into play at this point. The only one that really matters is this: it gains 2000 attack and defense points for every card in my hand! Since I have three….."

"It's over," whispered Pentan as he fell to his knees.

"You fought well," said Yami quietly. "Very well. Few have been able to defeat a God card in direct battle. But you have committed too many crimes. It is time for this to end! Timeaus, Ruler of the Skies (6000/6000)!" End it with Divine Thunder Blade!"

The divine beast raised its sword easily and casually brought it down onto the ground. Tendrils of energy erupted all over the ground and coalesced into one, massive wave of energy which crashed through the ground towards Obelisk.

The mighty god never stood a chance. Before it could raise one of its massive fists, it was hit full on by the wave of energy. It was worse than destroyed. When the attack hit it, it was vaporized on the spot. But it didn't stop there. It continued on to hit Pentan. He offered even less resistance than Obelisk, and he was atomized in a matter of seconds.

The Seal began to contract, but in defiance, the invincible God brought its Sword down on it with tremendous force. Before cracks could even begin to appear, it was gone. Timeaus gazed over at Yami, who looked back. Yami raised a hand. Timeaus nodded and disappeared.

**Ten and a half thousand words…. Twenty-four pages…. Personal record. Plus, this duel lasted twenty-six turns. Anyway, this extra-long chapter is dedicated to all my loyal supporters, especially Princess Yunariana, whose reviewed each and every chapter.**

**Sorry the update came late. I got back on the 27****th****, and I've been very jet-lagged. But don't worry. Now updates will be every five to seven days. **

**Anyway, those of you who are irritated that Kyle beat Joey so easily, that kid is more than meets the eye. He probably got lucky with that Vanguard Magician, but he's at least Kevin's level.**

**I have one more question. Which duel do you people most want to see? Kevin vs. Kyle? Another Yugi vs. Kaiba? Kaiba vs. Marik? Joey vs. Tea? Shoot away.**

**Original Cards**

**Kyle: Vanguard Magician**

**Yami: Timeaus, Ruler of the Skies**

**Pentan: The whole Obelisk set. I'm too lazy to list it, lol.**

**C'mon, please review. I think I deserve it, what with the length of the chapter.**


	24. A Duel from Hell

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: It's No Longer Safe Here

Man, nearly fifteen thousand words… 

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Thanks a lot. Expect such duels in the future. By the way, jus out of plain curiosity, why did you pick the Marik vs Yakou and the Jaden vs Darren duels as your faves? Also, you didn't answer my question in the last chapter. Which duel would you like to see?**

**Princess Yunariana: Glad you liked it. Keep reading and I'll keep writing. Also, you didn't answer my question in the last chapter. Which duel would you like to see?**

**Shadowcat: In that case, why don't you go on and keep reviewing ******** As for info on YGO R, just go to Janime.**

**BEWK: Thanks a lot, buddy.**

Yami staggered over to where Pentan had been standing, and bent down. The card of Obelisk the Tormentor was lying on the ground, the divine powers of the God it represented had saved it from being destroyed. He picked it up and slipped it into his deck. He allowed himself a satisfied smile. All the fake Obelisk cards had been destroyed.

Tea ran up to him and caught him as he collapsed. However, he was still conscious. "I… didn't sustain any he-heavy damage. I'm… ju-just exhausted from summoning… Ti-Timeaus." He straightened himself and limped forward. Joey put an arm under him for support, and in this way they returned to the car, to get back to their hotel. They realized that there was no need to talk about it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you sure this is the right hotel?" asked Alexis in a bored voice as they waited in reception of the New York Palace. "Positive," replied Zane in a monotone.

Jaden muttered something about being hungry as he leaned back in his armchair. "Man, where are they?"

The doors opened on cue, and a group of seven entered. Jaden stood up immediately, and Kaiba walked forward. "I've been expecting you. Sorry we were late. Had some trouble."

Jaden snorted in disgust. "You're telling me. There was an attack on that plane!" Kaiba's eyes widened, as Jaden went on to tell him about the powerful zombie duelist on the plane. "Well, in the end Zane beat him. It was quite close though: he had to summon his Chimeratech Overdragon to do it."

"But at least you'll made it through," observed Kaiba. "We're in desperate need of duelists here. The three of you are apparently the best of Duel Academy. That's one of the few places I'm willing to trust. You'll are too young to know about the bigger situation-…."

"Yes we do!" said Alexis loudly. "If we're going to help you, then we want to know why! And if you say that we're kids, you're wrong! I'm seventeen, thank you very much, and it's quite well known that you were seventeen as well during Battle City when that lunatic Marik Ishtar tried to destroy Yugi Moto! So if you say that we're too young to know about it, I want out!"

She took a breath and was about to continue, when Kaiba grunted, "Okay, okay! Not here though. I'm not going to bother telling you about it. Yugi and his geek squad should be enough for that. Your rooms are on the same floor as us. I was able to get a suite instead of three separate rooms. It's quite big, and we'll be using it to discuss our situation. It's three p.m. right now. The rest of us will get there at seven to brief you all."

He gave them their key cards, and was just about to leave, when he said after an afterthought. "I think we need a practice duel just to see if you'll can keep up. Prepare your decks if need be, it'll be a three on three."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Kaiba winced at the incredible wrath of Tea Gardner, who was bearing down on him.

He had just revealed his plan of recruiting the three students of Duel Academy to join them to the rest of the group. Some hadn't received it well.

"YOU GOT THREE KIDS OUT INTO THIS PLACE TO TAKE ON TWO MADMEN?" Tea could be very emotional about things like this.

"Yuki and Rhodes are seventeen, and Truesdale is nineteen, so-…" Tea ignored him and roared, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE? THEY WERE SAFER IN DUEL ACADEMY RATHER THAN HAGNING OUT WITH DUELISTS WHO JUST HAPPEN TO BE A MAGNET TO VIOLENT PEOPLE, THE SEAL OF ORICHALCOS, AND MOST OF ALL, EGPYTIAN GOD CARDS!!!!!!!!"

"OH SHUT UP!" roared back Kaiba, finally losing it. "WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME?!"

The remaining five of the group were backed away in a corner of the room. Only Serenity was trying to calm them down. "Guys-…" she tried to interject into the insults that were being hurled between her best friend and her boyfriend.

"Guys-…." "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S ALLOWING YOUR EVEN YOUNGER BROTHER TO HANG OUT WITH 'MAGNETS TO VIOLENT PEOPLE, THE SEAL OF ORICHALCOS, EGPYTIAN GOD CARDS'!"

"THAT'S DIFFERENT! AT THE MOMENT HE'S GOT NOWHERE ELSE TO GO! THOSE THREE WERE SAFER IN DUEL ACADEMY, BUT _NO_, 'I'M KAIBA, AND I HAVE TO PULL SCHOOL KIDS INTO A BATTLE AGAINST TWO PYSCHOS!'"

"_Guys_." Serenity's voice was icy now, but Tea and Seto were still ignoring her.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU, YOU POMPOUS CEO!" "FOR THE LAST TIME, SHUT UP, YOU-…"

"_**GUYS**_!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Tea and Seto turned around to see a seething Serenity glaring at them. Tea gulped.

In exactly a second, Serenity was back to her normal self. "I agree with the both of you, but I don't think we should fight among ourselves. Seriously, the consequences could be… _unpleasant_." The last word was uttered with an air of menace. She received pale nods from the two.

Yugi raised a point. "However good they may be, they're out of the league we're facing. You do realize that not only will they be up against the Seal of Orichalcos, but I'm pretty sure Marik has the Winged Dragon of Ra floating up and down his ranks."

"Listen," said Kaiba. "Truesdale faced me and did pretty well. In the end, I was _obviously _able to defeat him. But what's more, one of Ishtar's duelists broke into Duel Academy and challenged Yuki. He was a nasty piece of work. Apparently he used a monarch and fiend deck, but Yuki was _just _able to beat him. He was using the Seal, but apparently he had an Orichalcos stone to destroy it so that he could escape."

He continued, "Then Truesdale dueled an imposter who was posing as the flight attendant on the plane that got them here. Zombie deck. Very nasty. Truesdale did pull it off. Once again, he faced the Seal of Orichalcos. These guys are good. Right now we need all the duelists we can get. We've got these kids right here."

In the end, Kaiba managed to convince them that he had done the right thing. "And now we brief them about this situation."

No one offered to go. Everyone was looking at Yugi. "You're kidding, right?" "No," retorted Kaiba.

"Ra hates me," he muttered. Kaiba shrugged. "Anyway, just to find out if they're good enough or not, we're going to have a three on three duel with them."

"Are you kidding me?" yelled Joey. "We're running out of time as it is. Marik is killin' more people by 'da day!"

"Listen up Wheeler," sneered Kaiba. "As Yugi mentioned, Marik will probably give the Winged Dragon of Ra to one of his lackeys. If one of them face it, odds are they'll have no chance. That's why I want them to face at least one God card, just to see if they have it in them. Do you understand?"

Even Joey had to admit that the idea made sense. "I don't think Yugi will be able to duel," interjected Tea. "He was exhausted by his duel with that guy."

"I could try," said Yugi quietly. "Nope," muttered Kaiba. "I'll go. You can give me Obelisk. I can use it." Everyone fell silent. They knew of Kaiba's obsession with the God cards during Battle City. To their surprise, Yugi shrugged and handed it over to Kaiba. "Just give it back later," he joked.

Kaiba snorted. "Puh-lease. I don't need it now. After this whole ordeal is over, I'll defeat you and take all three God cards." He slipped it into his deck and said, "Who else?"

Kyle offered to go. "I guess it's been a while," said Tea quietly. "Fine. The Gardner siblings and myself will duel those three kids. Meet at seven fifteen p.m. at the gym. Now Yugi, go ahead and tell those kids about what's going on."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joey, Kyle, Kaiba, Tea, Tristan and Serenity were waiting in the gym for Zane, Alexis, Jaden and Yugi to arrive.

In about five minutes, Yugi came. "How did it go?" asked Joey curiously. Yugi threw his hand behind his head and grinned sheepishly. "To tell you the truth, they received it rather well." "You kidding?"

"Apparently they've had some experiences with psychopaths as well. Some guy who used a trio of powerful cards called Kagemaru, and then another weirdo who had those Arcane Force cards that Pegasus had tested against us. They've had their share of experiences with madmen. They'll be able to deal with this."

"Good," muttered Kaiba. "I wouldn't want to see Yuki and Rhodes bursting into tears when someone lost their soul."

"And here they are," announced Tea.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

True to Yugi's word, the trio had received the news about Marik and Dartz quite well. No one wanted to continue the topic, so they left it at that. "Right," said Kaiba.

"You'll be dueling myself, and the Gardners. Any last minute adjustments you want to make to your deck?" They shook their heads. "Good."

Tea, Kyle, and Seto stood at one end of the gym, while the Duel Academy students stood at the other end. "We each begin with 8000 life-points like a normal tag-duel. Members of the same team can defend each other, but as per the rules laid down by Industrial Illusions, only with defense-mode monsters, as blocking attacks with stronger monster pretty much screws up the game. You may also use your opponent's monsters as tributes. That's pretty much all there is to it. Even if members of a team are defeated, the remaining duelists can continue," finished Kaiba.

"Anything you want to say?"

"Just this," smirked Zane as he fired off his holographic projectors. "En garde!"

(Kaiba: 8000, Zane: 8000, Kyle: 8000, Jaden: 8000, Tea: 8000, Alexis: 8000)

"I'll go first," smirked Kaiba. "This duel was over before it started. I activate Future Fusion to send my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500) from my deck to the graveyard. If Future Fusion is still on the field during my second Standby Phase after activation, I get to bring out the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)."

"Foolish move," pointed out Zane. "If even one of us draws a card to destroy Future Fusion, you've wasted your three dragons."

"Perhaps," retorted Kaiba. "That's why any smart duelist would couple that move with this card: Dragon's Mirror! Now I can remove my three dragons from play to immediately summon the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!"

Ghostly silhouettes of the three Blue Eyes appeared and disappeared, and looming above him was a gigantic dragon. It looked like the Blue Eyes White Dragon, except it had three heads and was much larger. It could barely fit in the gym, and was dwarfed everything around it.

"Nice move," chuckled Tea. "Next I'll activate the powerful Dimension Fusion! By paying 2000 life-points, I can summon any number of monsters that have been removed from play! I choose my three Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500)!" The three massive dragons appeared next to their fused form. Although not as large and powerful as the Ultimate Dragon, they were both deadly.

Jaden and Alexis gulped. They had no idea what they were in for. Whatever it was, it couldn't be pleasant.

"I end my turn," chuckled Kaiba. He had over thirteen thousand attack points worth of monsters on the field.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Kaiba's really on a roll," murmured Yugi in awe. "I'll say," agreed Joey.

"I haven't seen Jaden duel, but I believe he uses Elemental Heroes. The Shining Flare Wingman could overcome something like that, but only late in the game. Alexis uses a Cyber Girl deck. From what I've heard, her strategy isn't that based on brute force. When it comes to raw power, only Zane will be able to stand up to Kaiba's rampage," said Yugi.

"And he's still got Obelisk hidden somewhere in his deck."

For some reason, Yugi found himself savoring the thought of a rematch with the mighty CEO.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zane drew confidently. He had faced Kaiba, and knew all about the redundant, if powerful, strategies that the Blue Eyes duelist employed. He was going to be in for a surprise. Oh yes. Kaiba had better watch out.

"I activate Pot of Greed, to draw two cards from my deck." He now had seven cards in his hand, giving him a large lead over Kaiba in hand size. "Then I play Dust Tornado to destroy Future Fusion."

"My Ultimate Dragon was summoned by Dragon's Mirror, and not Future Fusion. Therefore no harm is done. You wasted your Dust Tornado." Zane shook his head.

"I activate Double Spell, discarding Infernal Dragon (2000/0), to take one of your spell cards. I choose Future Fusion, which I now use to send three Cyber Dragons from my deck to the graveyard." He smirked at this. "Quite pathetic," observed Kaiba.

"Watch me. I activate the powerful magic card, Cybernetic Revolution! This can only be activated if I have three Cyber Dragons in the graveyard. By paying 1000 life-points per monster, I can special summon them to the field!"

Behind Zane were three massive beasts, at least fifteen feet long. They looked like a metallic snakes, with dragonic heads. "Impressive," observed Kaiba. "I'm pretty sure that I know what's coming next."

"I activate Polymerization to fuse them into my trump card, the Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

Then a massive, metallic beast appeared above them. It was a large three-headed snake like dragon that had powerful metallic wings and a snake like tail. Each head roared, showing they had no fear. It was an easy match in size for the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

"It's not strong enough to take out my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon," he sneered. Zane shrugged. "But no one can attack until each one of us has had one turn. End turn."

(Kaiba: 8000, Zane: 5000, Kyle: 8000, Jaden: 8000, Tea: 8000, Alexis: 8000)

Kyle drew. Their side had a huge advantage, what with Kaiba's devastating opening move. He would soon only add to that. "I summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700)." A man in a black outfit appeared. He was wielding a long staff with a black bulb at one end.

"Next I'll place one card facedown and end my turn."

Jaden chuckled at his draw. "I activate the field-spell, Neo Space!" He slipped the card into his Duel Disk, and the duelists were surrounded by empty black space, coupled with a beautiful swirl of colors. Suddenly, a ball of light appeared next to the Skilled Dark Magician. "It gains a counter every time a spell card is activated," explained Kyle.

"Then I'll set a monster in defense mode and end my turn," finished Jaden.

Tea drew with determination on her face. "I don't know what Neo Space does, but it can't be good for us. That's why I'm replacing it with the far more useful Sanctuary in the Sky!"

Behind Tea rose up a massive temple set upon clouds, which completely shattered Neo Space, inciting a groan from Jaden. The duelists watched as angels of various sorts flitted in and out of this sanctuary. She grinned and said, "I'll then summon The Agent of Creation – Venus (1600/0)!" A golden angel with long flowing blond hair rose up on the field, her arms crossed over her chest and wings spread as wide as they could go.

"Then I'll activate her special ability. By paying five hundred life-points per monster, I can summon up to three Mystical Shine Balls (500/500) from my deck. So I'll pay fifteen hundred life-points to summon all three!"

Venus was surrounded by three floating spheres, one red, one blue and one purple, with minimal stats. "They may be weak, but they'll come in handy later. Right now, I'll just end my turn."

Alexis gulped. All three members of the opposing team were onto a massive start. Zane had once again summoned Cyber End Dragon on his first turn. Jaden's monster probably had high defense points, and was most likely his Clayman (800/2000). She wasn't going to disappoint. She had given her deck a massive makeover, and this was actually its first duel.

"Illusionist White Fairy (1800/0) in attack mode." A beautiful white translucent fairy appeared. It had large, feathery wings, and held a long staff in one hand. It did look, however, harmless. "I activate it's special ability. By sacrificing it, and paying life-points equal to half the attack points of the strongest monster on the field, I can draw three cards."

She winced as her fairy disappeared and she was hit by 2250 points of damage, which was half of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. She now held a massive eight cards. "Then I summon Ice Queen of the Night (2300/2000)!"

A mystical figure appeared. It stood about eight feet tall, and had long, raven black hair. The queen was dressed in a flowing white gown, and had a long, fine wand. It was permanently covered by a beautiful mist. "How can you summon a second monster?" snapped Kyle.

"Easy. The effect of Ice Queen of the Night is that it can only be _special _summoned when I have seven or more cards in my hand. And here comes its effect. When its summoned, I can now summon cards with the words, Ice, or Night, in their name without tributes. I won't use the effect right yet. It's got even more effects, but I'll save those for later At the moment, its just a beatstick for me. But don't worry, you'll see it in action. I set one card facedown, and for now I end my turn.

(Kaiba: 8000, Zane: 5000, Kyle: 8000, Jaden: 8000, Tea: 8000, Alexis: 5750)

Kaiba drew and said, "Now my dragons are allowed to attack. Just to make sure that you'll don't try to pull any cheap tricks with your facedowns, I'll summon the Lord of Dragons (1200/1100)." The spellcaster appeared in its black robes and stared imperiously at the two opposing duelists.

"Since you are the most powerful, I'll eliminate you first, Truesdale! Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, lead the charge and annihilate Cyber End Dragon with Neutron Blast!" The three headed behemoth powered up a blast of energy in each mouth and fired each one at its mechanical counterpart.

"I won't let you win this time! I activate Limiter Removal, doubling Cyber End Dragon's attack points. Counter with Super Strident Blaze!" Kaiba gasped as the Cyber End Dragon (8000/2800) fired a blast of its own at its opponent. It crashed through The Ultimate Dragon's attack and utterly destroyed it. The explosion knocked Kaiba off his feet.

But that didn't stop him for long. He jumped back up, a furious glare on his face. "I can't attack you," he admitted to Zane. "But I can attack the other two! Blue Eyes number one, attack Yuki's facedown monster!" The behemoth fired a blast of energy at the brown-backed card. Alexis had been right. It was his Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000).

"Now I'll have my second Blue Eyes attack your Ice Queen!" The dragon fired a blast at the queen, but Alexis countered, "Activate Wabuko! Since we're a team, it protects all three of us!" A robed mage appeared in front of each duelist, protecting them from the dragons. Kaiba grudgingly ended his turn. The Cyber End Dragon exploded due to the second effect of Limiter Removal.

(Kaiba: 4500, Zane: 5000, Kyle: 8000, Jaden: 8000, Tea: 8000, Alexis: 5750)

Zane drew, but before he could make a move, Kyle had smirked, "Thanks to all your efforts, my Skilled Dark Magician has three spell counters. Now I can sacrifice him and his counters to summon the Dark Magician (2500/2100)!" The Skilled Dark Magician was replaced by the ever-familiar purple-robed mage.

Zane continued, "I summon a monster facedown in defense mode and end my turn." When everyone looked at him curiously, he smirked. "I know what you've done," he said, addressing Tea. "You summoned those Mystical Shine Balls to tempt me to attack. That's not going to work."

Kyle shrugged and drew. "I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)." A mage with maroon robes then appeared on the field. He wielded a powerful sword and a shield as well. "When I normal summon this monster, his effect kicks in, allowing him to gain a spell counter. The counter gives him 300 extra attack points." The mage's sword glowed, signifying the small increase in power (1900/1000).

"Now Breaker, attack Yuki's life-points directly!" Jaden watched in horror as the mage rushed forward and slashed at the E-Hero duelist. At that second, Zane sneered, "Cyber Archfiend (1000/2000), defend!"

The facedown card was revealed to a large, metallic fiend. It intercepted Breaker, and threw it backwards. Kyle suppressed a groan. "Dark Magician, you know what to do." The mage raised its staff and blew the fiend away with a sphere of black magic. "End turn," said Kyle.

Jaden drew. Zane had just saved him from what would have been a devastating attack. Hopefully he would be able to counter somehow. He looked at his hand. Hmm… He would be able to protect them all if he pulled this off correctly. "I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart (1500/1600) in attack mode!"

A huge, muscular man appeared, holding a long sword. He had a small goatee, and red designs were painted on his chest. "Wildheart, attack the Lord of Dragons now!"

"Is he desperate or just plain stupid? Next turn Gardner can blow away his Hero with her angels," thought Kaiba.

The massive man brought his sword down on the master of dragons, cleaving it in half. "Now that Lord of Dragons is destroyed, I can play Snatch Steal on one of your Blue Eyes White Dragons!"

"HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY DRAGON?" roared Kaiba even as a shifty-looking fellow through a massive burlap sack over the Blue Eyes and tugged it over to Jaden's field. It pulled the sack off and disappeared.

"Unfortunately, it's my Main Phase 2 now, so I can't attack. But I know that you don't have the heart to destroy one of your precious dragons," smirked Jaden and after setting a facedown he ended his turn.

Tea drew. The fact that the Blue Eyes was on Jaden's field meant real trouble. If Kaiba wouldn't destroy it, she'd find some way to do so. "I sacrifice two of my Mystical Shine Balls for one of my newer, more powerful cards. Meet the Splendid Venus (2800/2400)!" Two of the spheres disappeared, and were replaced by a majestic, golden angel. It had four wings, and held a long staff made of pure gold with a ruby at the end.

"Weird name," muttered Jaden. Tea shook her head and said, "It has a very powerful ability. All non-angels on the field now lose five hundred attack and defense points."

As one, the other five duelists yelled, "WHAT?!"

Tea ignored them, and said, "Well, Jaden. Looks like your Blue Eyes doesn't last long. Splendid Venus, destroy his dragon (2500/2000) with Angelic Blaze!" The fairy raised its staff and fired a blast of golden energy at the dragon. "

"Sorry, I'll counter with Negate Attack, saving my dragon from your attack!" Tea grimaced as the blast of holy fire was blocked. There was nothing she could do. "I end my turn," she sighed.

Alexis drew. Her Ice Queen was an angel type, so it was still at twenty-three hundred. That was not enough to take out the Splendid Venus, but she would see to it that that thing left the field as soon as possible. "I activate my Ice Queen's special ability to special summon one of my most powerful monsters. Meet the White Night Dragon (3000–500 2500/2500–500 2000)!"

An amazing new monster appeared. It resembled the Blue Eyes very closely, but it looked like it was made completely of watery ice. It was also covered in spikes. It let out a deafening screech.

"Is it just me, or does that thing need to have its throat checked?" muttered Kyle.

"It may not be strong enough to take on your Splendid Venus, but if I equip it with this…" A grin spread across her face. "I play United We Stand, giving my White Night Dragon eight hundred extra attack points for every monster on my field." She smirked as the White Night Dragon's stats were boosted to an enormous 4100/3600.

"Destroy her angel with Ice Burst Stream!" The dragon opened its maw and blasted the angel into oblivion with a massive burst of bluish white energy. As it was destroyed, all monsters had their attack points boosted back to their original figures.

"I end my turn."

(Kaiba: 4200, Zane: 5000, Kyle: 8000, Jaden: 8000, Tea: 6700, Alexis: 5750)

Kaiba drew. His life-points jumped to 5200, due to Snatch Steal. "This is beginning to bore me. First I play Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy Snatch Steal." Jaden winced as the imp with the man with the burlap sack was destroyed, and the Blue Eyes returned to Kaiba's field.

"I play Burst Stream of Destruction. It can only be played when there's a Blue Eyes White Dragon on the field, and all monsters on my opponent's field are automatically destroyed, in exchange for no attacks by the Blue Eyes." All the same, he was smirking coldly.

Jaden and Zane's field were both empty, but it didn't matter, as all Kaiba wanted to do was rid himself of the threat of the White Night Dragon and her useful Ice Queen of the Night.

The three dragons opened their mouths and unleashed the devastating full force of their combined attacks, which completely covered Jaden, Alexis, and Zane's field, resulting in a fiery explosion. When it cleared, it was empty. "Too bad chumps," chuckled Kaiba.

Zane groaned. Now they would have to start straight from scratch. All of Alexis' efforts had been ruined. "I set a monster facedown in defense mode and end my turn.

Kyle drew, and observed the field. They had a distinct advantage, what with the opponent's failure to destroy the Blue Eyes White Dragons. Now time for him to take the lead and go on the offensive.

"First I play the Card of Sanctity." All players replenished their hands so that they were all holding six cards.

"I summon my White Magician Pikeru (1200/0) in attack mode." A cute, female, almost child-like magician appeared, clad completely in white. "She may look weak, but her real powers will be revealed soon enough. To top it off, I'll play Dark Magic Attack." Even as he said these words, dark power flowed out of his more powerful magician's staff, destroying all spell and trap cards on Jaden, Alexis and Zane's field. "That's the effect of Dark Magic Attack. It can only be activated when I have a Dark Magician on the field. Kaiba emptied your field of monsters, and now my Dark Magician got rid of your magic and trap cards! You'll are finished!"

He smirked at them cruelly, and then continued.

"Now I'll have Dark Magician attack your monster, _Zane_."

The mighty spellcaster fired a sphere of dark magic at his master's opponent without hesitation. This time Zane had no way of blocking the attack, and his monster, which happened to be his Exploder Dragon (1000/0). He winced, but held his ground. "Next I'll have Pikeru attack you directly."

Zane gasped as the weaker, but still powerful (at least to him) wave of light hit him, and drained him off 1200 life-points. Kyle smirked, and then said, "I activate Sebek's Blessing, granting me life-points equivalent to the damage you took by a direct attack from me." Kyle's life-points jumped up to 9200. He then ended his turn.

"Enough is enough," declared Jaden as he drew. "I activate Fake Hero. This lets me special summon an Elemental Hero from my hand, on the condition it doesn't attack on this turn, and returns back at the end of the turn." He grinned. "I do, however, require only a single turn. I summon Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!"

A massive ball of light appeared- then that ball exploded outward in a shower of stars that covered the entire field! On Jaden's side of the field, was a white being with red markings all over his body and a blue gemstone in the middle of his chest. Sparks glittered all over his body.

"Next I'll normal summon my Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird (800/600)." There appeared on the field a red-feathered humanoid hummingbird with big white wings.

"You've got yourself a big naked gray guy and a bird," taunted Kyle. "Anyone want to fill me in on how we're going to lose?"

"Let me tell you a little something about my Elemental Hero Neos," smirked Jaden. "He's got a nice little power that sets him apart from any other Elemental Hero—a power called Contact Fusion. See, when he's on the field with a Neo-Spacian monster, in this case my Air Hummingbird, then I'm able to perform a Fusion Summon using them as the Fusion material that's needed—without having to use a Polymerization card!"

"Damn," muttered Kyle.

"All I have to do is return the two monsters in question to my deck to perform the Contact Fusion—and that's what I'm going to do now! Neos, Air Hummingbird, use the power of Contact Fusion and form…Elemental Hero Air Neos (2500/2000)!"

Elemental Hero Neos and Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird both jumped up high, flying into the sky and colliding with each other. And—a shower of colorful sparks exploded from their collision!

A new monster emerged from the vortex of sparks. He had Neos's physique, but sported crimson-red feathers all over his body and two angelic white wings on his back.

"That's one cool monster," muttered Joey to no one in particular.

"A very powerful card, Elemental Hero Air Neos. Probably one of the strongest of his Contact Fusion forms. Let me tell you why. Neos, attack Kyle's Dark Magician with Hurricane Fist!"

The powerful monster threw himself forward and thrust out his fist. To everyone's shock, a typhoon emerged from it and spiraled towards the Dark Magician. "Idiot," muttered Kyle. "The two monsters are going to suicide."

The Dark Magician fired a sphere of black magic back at the oncoming storm. "This is when Neos' effect jumps into play! If I have lower life-points than you, it's attack points are increased by the difference!"

"What," gasped Kyle, as Neos' attack points jumped up to a huge 3700!

The fused monster glowed with crimson energy and suddenly the hurricane quadrupled in size and completely annihilated the powerful mage. Kevin was forced to cover his face to protect himself from the blast. "What power…" he gasped.

"Unfortunately, Neos' ATK is back down to 2500 now," smirked Jaden. "Normally, it would be returned to my fusion deck at the end of the turn… but if I play this card, it won't! I activate Destiny of Neos, which allows me to add one Neo Space from my deck, graveyard or removed from play pile to my hand."

He smirked and pulled the card out of his graveyard. "Next I'll play it, at the same time destroying Sanctuary in the Sky!" He heard Tea moan as the empty black area, combined with the swirl of colors, appeared and shattered the large palace. "Too bad," chortled Jaden.

"Now let me tell you about this card, as I didn't get time to do so when you destroyed it when I last played it," he gave Tea a dirty look.

"It gives Elemental Hero Neos, and all cards that list Neos as one of its fusion-materials 500 extra attack points."

"You're kidding me," grunted Kaiba as Air Neos grew in strength to rival his dragons.

"What's more, I don't have to return it to my fusion deck at the end of the turn!" laughed Jaden. "Crap!" snarled Kyle.

"Deal with it. We're not planning on giving you three an easy duel. Remember, you're facing the best of Duel Academy." With a grin, he gestured to Tea to make her move.

Tea drew and looked helplessly at her field. All she had was Venus and one Mystical Shine Ball. She had to fight back. Her Splendid Venus had left the field faster than she had expected. Time to bring this duel to the next level.

"First I'll switch Venus and my Mystical Shine Ball to defense mode. Then I play Spell Absorption. Now I gain five hundred life-points every time someone activates a spell card."

"What the hell was that?!" roared Kaiba.

"What do you mean?" shot back Tea.

"That kid's monster will feed of growing life-points! With Spell Absorption on the field, it won't be long until his monster's attack points are more than doubled! You're endangering yourself with that card."

Tea gazed back helplessly in apology. While a good duelist, she was nothing compared to the likes of Yugi and Kaiba. It had been a very foolish mistake on her part to play Spell Absorption. She had might as well make the best of it. Cards in her deck benefited from high life-points.

Kaiba was still ranting at her while Jaden and Alexis glanced nervously at each other and Zane grinned slightly.

"Shut up!" yelled a furious voice. Everyone looked at the source of the voice. It was Kyle. "Don't talk to my sister like that," he snarled, his voice dripping with venom.

Kaiba was struck dumb by the outburst. Joey, on the other hand, was enjoying it.

"I'm really missing a video camera," he muttered to Yugi. "Seto Kaiba silenced by a kid. CNN would pay through their nose for it."

"We are on a team," said Kyle slowly but angrily. "And if we keep fighting among ourselves," he snarled, "we're going to lose!"

Kaiba was humbled by the outburst. He muttered something under his breath about kids who thought too much of themselves, and gestured to Tea to continue. She did, although she was now slightly pink. "I can still fix that. I don't want his monster to become more powerful. I play Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy Spell Absorption."

Jaden grumbled to himself as Kaiba nodded in appreciation.

"I summon Seraphim Blader (1800/900) in attack mode!" An angel in gray armor appeared. It had massive white wings, and its blue eyes shown as it waved its large sword about. "Seraphim Blader gains three hundred attack and defense points for every angel in play, so thanks to Venus and the Mystical Shine Ball it's ATK is 2400."

The other three were surprised that Tea possessed such a powerful monster. "Imagine combining that with the Seal of Orichalcos," thought Jaden to himself. The very thought made him shudder.

"I set one card facedown and I'll end my turn for now."

Alexis snapped the top card off her deck. "I summon White Night Blader (2200/0) in attack mode!" A knight dressed completely in white armor and robes appeared. It had no shield, but carried a long sword.

Kaiba raised his eyes. "Impressive attack points for a level four monster."

Alexis' eyes flashed. "True. But unfortunately, it can't attack. But no matter. That wasn't my purpose. I activate Polymerization to fuse it with the Etoile Cyber (1200/1600) in my hand to summon my Cyber Tech Knight (2500/2500)!"

The spectral image of a blue-skinned fairy dressed in a crimson body suit appeared next to the Etoile Cyber, and both of them were pulled into a vortex. The resulting beast was about eight feet tall. It looked similar to the White Night Blader, expect its robes were black and white, and it had a slightly mechanical look to it. Red eyes shown underneath its helmet.

"Next I'll have him attack the Seraphim Blader, eliminating one of the growing threats to our team."

Tea smirked as the Cyber Tech Knight hefted its sword up and leapt forward. "I activate Draining Shield, negating your monster's attack and adding its ATK to my life-points!" An invisible shield stopped the fused monster in its tracks and absorbed its attack.

(Kaiba: 5200, Zane: 5000, Kyle: 8000, Jaden: 8000, Tea: 9200, Alexis: 5750)

Alexis glanced around helplessly. She had nothing left to defend her, leaving her wide open to Kaiba's attacks next turn. Her hair hid her face as she whispered, "I end my turn."

Kaiba drew quietly and said softly, "I'll have the first Blue Eyes attack your new monster." The metallic dragon opened its maw and fired a blast of blue energy at the mechanical knight. Its opponent attempted to bat away the blast with its sword, but was easily consumed.

Alexis' life-points dropped to 4700. Kaiba nodded at Alexis. "Kaiba?" screamed Tea. "Are you crazy? An attack of that magnitude could hurt her!"

Kaiba ignored her. "Good duel. But I'm afraid it has to end here. Now, go my two remaining dragons. Twin White Lightning!"

The two dragons fired two blasts simultaneously, which combined into one and plummeted towards her. It hit her full on, even as Jaden yelled, "NO!"

Alexis was consumed by the attack and the flash of light blinded everyone. But that didn't stop Jaden from running over to Alexis. When the light cleared, Alexis was sitting on the ground with Jaden next to her. She was panting, but unhurt.

"Are you okay?" asked Jaden softly.

She nodded, and to everyone's surprise, stood up and did something quite unexpected. She kissed Jaden full on the mouth, whispered something to him in his ear, gave a dainty wave of walked over to join the audience.

Jaden stood there, absolutely frozen for five… ten seconds. A slow, stupid grin spread across his face. Zane looked at his team-mate, confused. "Umm… Jaden? The duel is still on."

His voice shook Jaden out of his reverie. "Oh, yeah. Sorry 'bout that." He got up and walked back to his position, still grinning at Alexis. "Kids," muttered Zane.

Meanwhile, it was still Kaiba's turn. "I don't really have to do anything, but I ­_do _have seven cards in my hand. I set a card facedown and end my turn."

(Kaiba: 4200, Zane: 5000, Kyle: 8000, Jaden: 8000, Tea: 9200, Alexis: 0)

The duel was now three on two, and Kyle, Kaiba and Tea still had a large advantage. It was now Zane's turn, and he hoped for their sake that he would be able to turn the tables.

He grinned at his next card. "I activate Cybernetic Fusion Support, paying half my life-points to remove from Play Fusion Material Monsters listed on a Machine-Type Fusion Monster from your Graveyard, to Special Summon that Fusion Monster!"

The images of the three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) appeared behind him. "I think you could guess which one I wish to summon. Return to the field, my almighty Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

Even Kaiba paled as the three smaller mechanical dragons disappeared and were replaced by the Cyber End Dragon, shining in all it's glory, it's three tails waving about as the three heads roared at its master's opponents.

"Now, do me a favor and annihilate one of those Blue Eyes White Dragons!" The three heads each sent out a blast of golden energy at the dragon. The blasts combined, and hurtled towards Kaiba's monster, which didn't stand a ghost of a chance.

"I activate Wabuko, protecting my dragons from your attack!" The almost broken card flipped up, and the robed mages appeared. They began to chant, and the attack slowed down and slowly faded away.

Zane shook his head. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

(Kaiba: 5200, Zane: 2500, Kyle: 8000, Jaden: 8000, Tea: 9200, Alexis: 0)

Kyle drew and said shortly, "Due to Pikeru's effect. I gain four hundred life-points every standby-phase for every monster on my field. Unfortunately, that effect is a bit of a bummer at the moment….," he glared at Jaden.

"It would be silly to switch Pikeru to defense mode with Cyber End Dragon on the field. That's why I'm going to simply sacrifice it for my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!" A pretty female version of the Dark Magician appeared. She was donning a similar outfit to the Dark Magician, and had long, blonde hair, and a determined look on her face.

"She won't be here for long, cuz' I'm going to sacrifice her to summon the second of my most powerful mages! Like Vanguard Magician, it can only be special summoned by sacrificing a card with the words 'Dark Magician' in its name. However, I must also pay half my life-points. Ladies and gentleman welcome to the field my almighty Asguard Magician (3000/0)!"

The new monster that had risen was similar to the Vanguard Magician, yet at the same time different. Its physical build was exactly the same, but it was dressed in black armor instead of golden robes. In one hand he held a cross between a scimitar and a staff. His face was covered by a cowl, which just about showed his red eyes.

"What the-?" gasped Zane. "What kind of beast is that thing?"

Kyle grinned. "Oh yes. The Asguard Magician is part demon. At least that's what the legends say. The Vanguard Magician represents the Light side. It's a manifestation of all the magic of the mighty white mages and heroic Light wizards. The Asguard Magician, on the other hand… It represents Darkness. All the bloodthirsty Dark lords and black magicians… The Asguard Magician represents them."

He grinned and suddenly blanched as his life-points dropped to 4200.

He gasped and fell to his knees. "It drains half my life-points, but the powers of Asguard Magician are well worth it. Like his brother the Vanguard Magician, I cannot use its powers until the next turn."

"Which is a pathetic waste!" smirked Zane. "It's no match for my Cyber End Dragon."

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then I must remedy that. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Jaden drew and said, "Unfortunately, Neos won't gain anything as you have lower life-points than I do. Attacking your monster would be suicide, so I'll leave that to Zane. Instead, I combine Neos with Fairy Meteor Crush, and I'll have him attack your Venus. Hurricane Fist!"

Tea paled. Venus had 0 defense points. This was going to be rough. Air Neos through back its arm and fired a massive cyclone at the angel, which never stood a chance. This was going to be rough. She braced herself as her monster was shattered to pieces. Her life-points dropped to 6200. Also, Seraphim Blader's ATK dropped to twenty-one hundred.

She coughed as the dust began to clear. "Not bad."

Jaden grinned. "I haven't even begun to duel at my best! I'll end my turn for now. But watch out, cuz' I'm going to win this duel!"

(Kaiba: 5200, Zane: 2500, Kyle: 4000, Jaden: 8000, Tea: 6200, Alexis: 0)

Tea drew slowly and looked over her cards. She smiled grimly. "I summon Summon Priest (800/1600)!" The wizened old man that Yakou had used against Marik appeared on Tea's side of the field. This time, at least, it was being used for a better cause. "By discarding a spell card from my hand, I can special summon one level four or lower monster from my deck per turn."

"During each of my turns the Summon Priest will let me special summon one level four or lower monster from his deck to the field," grinned the angel duelist. Even as she spoke another form was appearing on Tea field. This one was an angel in armor, holding a long rifle in one hand.

"I special summon Seraphim Gunner (1800/1200). Seraphim Gunner gains three hundred attack and defense points for every angel in play as well. Since I have a total of three angels on the field, both my Seraphim's gain six hundred attack points, as their effect does not include themselves."

The Seraphim Blader raised his sword up proudly as his ATK shot up to a large twenty-four hundred. The Seraphim Gunner glowed with silver light and stared imperiously at everyone around him as his ATK was raised to 2400 as well.

"Not bad," observed Zane.

"Not bad at all," agreed Jaden.

Tea nodded in appreciation to the praise and said, "Unfortunately, since I summoned Seraphim Gunner with Summon Priest's effect, it is unable to attack for this turn. Seraphim Blader is too weak to do anything as well, so I guess I'll just end my turn with a facedown."

Tea only had one card in her hand.

It was Kaiba's turn next. A slow grin spread across his face. "You know…. My Blue Eyes White Dragons may have been difficult to handle. But the monster that I'm about to summon is invincible."

"Don't tell me-…" gasped Zane.

"For the love of crud…" groaned Jaden.

"I sacrifice my three dragons to summon the Egyptian God card that Yugi gave me!" The three dragons disappeared into columns of light and the gym ground began to shake around Kaiba. A maniacal smirk was on his face as he slapped the card onto his Disk.

"You may have been able to defeat powerful duelists in your time! But nothing, and I mean _nothing_ is going to be even a tiny speck compared to me! I summon Obelisk the Tormentor (4000/4000)!!!!!"

The titanic blue god rose up from the gym floor, dwarfing even the Cyber End Dragon. Luckily, the ceiling was extra-high, and by bending its head Obelisk was able to fit in the room. It let out a thunderous roar.

Jaden was speechless. "Christ…" gasped Zane.

Even Kyle was shocked. He had seen it during Pentan's duel with Yugi, but to be in close quarters with it was a completely different thing.

"With Obelisk on the field, I'm untouchable. Just to further that statement, I activate Premature Burial, to revive my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!"

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING!" squawked Jaden as the huge three-headed behemoth of a dragon, with much more powerful looking features, flew down and roared its extremely loud dragon cry. It was quite pressed for space.

Kaiba stood in between the two titans, utterly confident of his power. "The beginning of the end for you kids has arrived," he announced nastily. "First of all I'll have my Ultimate Dragon destroy Cyber End Dragon and regain his position as the top link of the food chain. Neutron Blast. Blow his tin can away!"

The huge dragon's three mouths opened, and suddenly blasted forth three streams of multicolored energy, each which swirled into one powerful beam and struck the mechanical behemoth. It roared in pain as the blast strained against its chest. With a final screech it was shattered into millions of pixels.

"Now…." Kaiba's grin widened. "I wouldn't normally do this. But I don't want you dead, of course. Obelisk, do away with his life-points, and _only_ his life-points." The god raised its fist and was about to bring it down on the floor next to Zane, but a yell startled everyone.

"Air Neos, defend!" The bird-like Elemental Hero flew towards its master's partner and intercepted the attack. It was crushed by the massive fist as if its considerable power was absolutely nothing.

Zane gazed at Jaden, absolutely shocked. "Did… did you just do that?"

"I did."

"Thank you." "Don't mention it," laughed the brunette.

Kaiba however, was getting grumpy. "If it hadn't been for your featherbrain, I would have won by now!" he snapped angrily. He placed a card facedown and ended his turn. Obelisk and the Blue Eyes punctuated this with a roar each.

Zane drew. He had lost his Cyber End Dragon, his only hope of defeating Kaiba. Even if he got it back, it wouldn't be much help except for suiciding with Obelisk. But he didn't know the powers of a God… He would have to act fast if he was to survive.

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

"Is that all?" mocked Kyle as he drew.

"It is," confirmed Zane.

"Then that is really quite pathetic. For you do realize that I may now use the effect of my Asguard Magician. Now watch as your doom plays out! Activate effect, Dimensional Darkness!"

He grinned and said, "The effect is so powerful that I must further discard half my hand, rounded off to the lower whole number, to activate it. So I must say goodbye to my considerably useful Apprentice Magician (400/800)."

The mage of darkness raised its staff upwards, and it shone with mighty dark energy. "For every card on the field and in both players hands, my opponent loses three hundred life-points."

Zane swore, using a four-letter word that was very uncommon for a man of his etiquette. "That's like that ridiculously broken Chaos Emperor Dragon (3000/2500)!"

Jaden was too shocked for words.

"Since the both of you are my opponents, both of you will be hit by… a grand total of sixty-nine hundred points of damage!"

"6900?!" gasped Jaden.

"Yup. So it's sayonara to Truesdale, and of course you, Yuki, will be left with a pathetic eleven hundred life-points. Asguard Magician! Do your thing!"

The demonic wizard raised its staff and a beam of darkness flew out of every card on the field and on every person's hand. They all swirled around the Asguard Magician's staff, and Jaden couldn't help but noticing an evil glint in his eyes.

And then it happened. He brought his staff down as hard as he could, and the darkness around it completely exploded. It shot out forward, and all the tendrils of darkness merged into two columns. One plummeted towards Jaden. The other towards Zane.

The two were completely encased in the energy and Kyle began to laugh in a feeble attempt to imitate the real villain laugh. Suddenly, his eye caught his Duel Disk. "That the f-.."

"_You complete that sentence and you'll be on the next plane to Domino before you can say 'I'm sorry'!" _said Tea so dangerously that Kyle chose to obey her.

The life-point counter showed that while Jaden was down to 1100 life-points, Zane still had 2500. "He should have lost!" roared Kyle. "What is this? Some kind of malfunction with the stupid machine."

"My inventions never malfunction, thank you very much," said Kaiba coldly.

The darkness cleared to reveal an exhausted Jaden, and a grinning Zane. The latter was surrounded by a bluish-white, translucent shield of energy. "I activated by Cybernetic Dimension Shield. I can only activate it by removing from graveyard three monsters that are either called 'Cyber Dragon' or have 'Cyber Dragon' listed as one of their fusion materials. I simply chose my three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600)!" He grinned at his opponents. "Its effect states that until my turn, my life-points cannot be reduced in anyway.

Kyle snarled grudgingly and then paled.

"Oops." "What is it now?" said Kaiba in a tired tone of voice. The length of the duel was beginning to irritate him. "My Asguard Magician has one last negative effect. If anything is chained to its effect, it is automatically destroyed at the end of the turn."

Jaden grinned as Kyle groaned and mumbled to himself. "Oh just get it over with," snapped Kaiba.

Kyle ended his turn. The Asguard Magician exploded.

(Kaiba: 4400, Zane: 2500, Kyle: 4000, Jaden: 1100, Tea: 6200, Alexis: 0)

He forced himself not to worry. He had four thousand life-points remaining. It didn't matter. Jaden wouldn't be able to conjure up something that powerful. Plus, he could still count of Tea's Mystical Shine Ball to protect him.

Jaden drew. "Kyle Gardner. It's the end of the road for you, I'm very sorry to say."

Kyle's fears were confirmed. However, he still put on a macho face and said, "We'll see about that!"

"Sure we will. First I activate Painful Choice. This card allows me to pick any 5 cards from my deck and show them to you. Then you decide which one I get to move to my hand, while the rest go to the Graveyard. And I think I'll choose these five cards!"

Kyle was shocked at the four cards he held up. They were Elemental Hero

Avian (1000/1000), Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (1200/800), Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000), Elemental Hero Bubbleman (800/1200) and Elemental Hero Bladedge (2600/1800).

"Hmm…" smirked Kyle. "All of them are pretty much useless. The first four are pathetically weak monsters, but still serve as a defense. Bladedge is powerful, but even if you summon it, at this point it can't do much damage at all. I think I'll let you keep Bladedge."

"You've sealed your fate," Jaden began to laugh as he sent the four monsters to his graveyard and added Bladedge to his hand, giving him a total of five cards. "My next card will release my ultimate beast. A creature so powerful… it is often called the King of Elemental Heroes. I activate… Miracle Fusion, which lets me remove Fusion-Materials in my graveyard for an Elemental Hero fusion from play to summon it to the field!"

"You're kidding!" gasped Zane.

"What do you mean?" scoffed Kaiba.

Zane ignored him and looked over at Alexis who whispered, "Jaden's going to summon _that_?"

"It's over for that Kyle kid," muttered Zane.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?!" snarled Kyle. "I can, kid," smirked Jaden. "Its basically the end of you in this duel. You're getting the honor of being done away with by the greatest Elemental Hero of them all!"

Silhouettes of Avian, Burstinatrix, Clayman and Bubbleman appeared beside Jaden. "Now! Fuse! Earth!" Clayman transformed into a sphere of brown energy. "Fire!" Burstinatrix screeched and transformed into a ball of blue energy. The ball flew towards what _was_ Clayman, and the two combined into one bronze energy ball.

"Wind!" Avian howled and burst into green energy, which slammed into the bronze ball and transformed it to silver.

"And Water!" Bubbleman shrieked and after transforming into blue energy slammed into the ball and it turned golden. It began to shine even brighter than before and gave of waves of golden light. Although unaffected, even Obelisk seemed impressed by it. The ball burst into random waves of energy, which began to take humanoid shape.

There was an extra bright burst of light, and when it cleared, the awesome result of the fusion was standing there. It was a massive, golden man, at least twelve feet tall. Red shades covered his solid blue eyes, and muscles rippled all over his body. He had silver plates on some parts of his body. He mad a massive 'E' on his chest.

"This is my pal, Elemental Hero Electrum (2900/2500). And now his first effect is up! When this guy is fusion-summoned, all removed from play cards are sent back to their owner's decks!"

Zane resisted a smirk as he slipped the three Cyber Dragons back into his deck where they belonged. Jaden returned his four E-Heroes to his deck. No one else had any removed from play cards.

"Next, I'll have you know that he's not only counted as a light attribute monster, but also a fire, wind, water and earth. Finally, he gains 300 attack points for every monster on the field that shares an attribute with him! There are no dark monsters on the field. As of now, I count six. That means he gains 1800 life-points, putting him at 4700!"

"But that beats Obelisk!" gasped Kaiba.

Jaden smirked at him. "Do you think I'm that stupid? I can destroy Obelisk at any time. If I do so now, Electrum will drop to 4400, and you'll be able to destroy him with your Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Nope. It may seem foolish, but I'll destroy Obelisk later. My target now, is you, Kyle Gardner."

Everyone fell silent. After Kyle's brilliant performance against Joey, they didn't expect to see him go out. Kyle's hair hid his face for a moment. When he looked up, he was grinning. "That was an excellent duel. By far the best I've ever had. Go ahead and finish it."

Jaden nodded. "This card is rather special to me. I don't use it very often, but when I do, it means something. One example would be when I used it to defeat the Legendary Demons way back in my first year at Duel Academy. And now, Electrum, attack him directly and finish it with Elixir Elemental Blast!"

The fantastic monster raised its fist to the air and a nexus of golden energy began to build up around it. With a roar, it flung the blast at Kyle. It hit him on the chest, knocking him off his feet as his life-points tumbled down to 0.

Kyle stood up breathing heavily. He grinned slightly and muttered to Tea, "Sis', do me a favor and win this one for me."

"Definitely."

Jaden set a facedown card and ended his turn.

(Kaiba: 4400, Zane: 2500, Kyle: 0, Jaden: 1100, Tea: 6200, Alexis: 0)

Tea sighed and drew. Well, Kyle was out. Now it was a tag duel. Her and Kaiba against the two best duelists from Duel Academy. Angels and dragons against machines and warriors of nature… A formidable match indeed.

"I play Graceful Charity," she breathed. She drew three cards and sent two to the graveyard. "I discarded Repayment of Losses. When this card is sent to the graveyard in any way, I can draw one extra card."

"Can you spell b-r-o-k-e-n?" muttered Jaden to himself.

Tea had three cards in her hand. Enough for her to pull of a decent combo. What she was about to pull of however, was far more than decent. "First I'll activate Summon Priest's effect, discarding a magic card to summon Seraphim Guardna (1000/2000) from my deck in defense mode!" Another armored angel, this one holding a massive steel shield, now stood on Tea's field.

Her field was now completely full. The Blader and Gunner had twenty-seven hundred attack points, and Guardna stats were 1900/2900. Jaden scoffed. "With your new monster you've done nothing but raised by Electrum's ATK to a gigantic 5000!"

"Watch me," chuckled Tea. "First of all, I had discarded a second Repayment of Losses to the effect of my Summon Priest. That means I can draw another card." She grinned and picked the next card of her deck.

"I sacrifice my Mystical Shine Ball for the all-powerful Seraphim Monarch (2500/1000). At the same time though, I have to pay the sacrificed monster's ATK as life-points. Fortunately, that only amounts to five hundred. At the same time, it can only be special summoned by its own effect."

The ball of energy disappeared and was replaced by a giant, winged angel. It was male, and was exceedingly handsome. Locks of soft, blonde hair fell to his shoulders, and two large wings spread out from his back. He was dressed in purple armor. He landed gracefully on the floor and bowed to Tea.

"Seraphim Monarch gains five hundred attack points for every angel on the field besides himself," said Tea. She then grinned. His ATK shot up to 4000. "Not enough," pointed out Jaden. "Perhaps," she chuckled. "Not if I activate my continuous magic card, Heaven's Mandate!"

Jaden raised an eyebrow as every monster on Tea's field glowed with heavenly energy. "Consider it to be an angel-deck version of the popular card, Allied Forces. Except its effect is slightly more complicated. It only activates if I have three or more angels on the field. However, unlike Allied Forces, all monsters on my field gain two hundred attack points for _every_ monster on the field!"

"Oops," muttered Jaden.

The five monsters on Tea's field were now more powerful than ever. In fact, they matched the deadly combo that Todaku used against Yami. Each Seraphim gained nine hundred attack points thanks to their own effect, plus a bonus one thousand because of Heaven's Mandate.

Seraphim Blader and Seraphim Gunner were at thirty-seven hundred. Seraphim Guardna was at a lower, but still high, twenty-nine hundred. Summon Priest was at a decent eighteen hundred, and Seraphim Monarch now matched Electrum with a massive five thousand attack points.

Zane paled. It was over. She would suicide her Seraphim Monarch with Electrum, eliminating their only defense. Then although her monsters would be weakened, they would still have a combined ATK of over ten thousand, more than enough to finish them off.

"Seraphim Monarch, attack Elemental Hero Electrum now with Divine Slash!" The seraphim raised its hand to the air and energy crackled around it. A golden blade appeared in his hand. Gracefully, he rushed forward, swinging the blade backwards to lop off Electrum's head and take his own life in the process.

Jaden knew that if he didn't act, he was out of the duel. "I activate Call of the Haunted, reviving my Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000) from the graveyard in defense mode to boost Electrum's ATK to 5300!"

"CRAP!" swore Tea as the otherworldly Hero appeared kneeling beside his more powerful comrade. Electrum's eyes blazed and he raised his hand. A nexus of golden energy shot from it. The blast hit the monarch's blade and continued on to burst through his body, shattering him to pieces.

Tea was able to maintain her decorum, and said, "Good move."

"Thanks."

Tea was now pretty much helpless. Although now Seraphim King was off the field, putting Electrum back at 5000, none of her monsters stood a ghost of a chance. The Blader and the Gunner were at thirty-two hundred, Guardna at twenty-four hundred, and Summon Priest at a low sixteen hundred. There was, however, one card in her deck that could win her the duel. "I end."

(Kaiba: 4400, Zane: 2500, Kyle: 0, Jaden: 1100, Tea: 5400, Alexis: 0)

Tea glanced over nervously at Kaiba's impassive face. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

"I draw," drawled Kaiba. Even though the Elemental Hero Electrum outmatched both his monsters, he was still completely confident. He was the second ranked duelist in the word. He was up against some kid. He wasn't going to get beaten.

"I set a card facedown and set a monster in defense mode. I'll end it with that." Two brown-backed cards appeared on the field, dwarfed by the dragon and the God.

Zane drew confidently. The Cybernetic Dimension Shield disappeared.

Electrum had given them an extra edge. Time to capitalize on that. "I activate Monster Reborn, to revive my CYBER END DRAGON (4000/2800)!"

The three headed mechanical terror appeared and screeched at Obelisk and the Ultimate Dragon. Obelisk grunted, and the machine decided to shut up. "How very clichéd, and how very unnecessary," sneered Kaiba.

"Your pathetic beast doesn't stand a chance against my dragon."

"But it boosts Electrum's ATK to 5300 once again," pointed out Jaden. "More than enough to destroy anything you can throw at me."

Zane nodded in agreement and smirked, "I have plans for this guy," but Kaiba ignored him. Continuing to evade Kaiba's questions on why he wasted his Monster Reborn, he set two facedowns and ended his turn.

It was now Jaden's turn. He snapped the top card off his deck and smirked. "Hmm… I could switch Neos into attack mode. However… Nope, I 'm not going to do that. No matter which of your monsters I destroy, there'll be at least one that is stronger than Neos by more than eleven hundred points. I'll just let Electrum do the work by having him attack Obelisk the Tormentor!"

The powerful hero new that this wasn't going to be an easy job. He extended his arm with three of his fingers pointed at the God. It was as if all the light in the area was being sucked into the nexus forming around his fingers. His back muscles tightened as he gritted his teeth as he first drew his hand backwards and thrust it forward. As soon as he did so, he raised his arm up, with a single finger extended, and a titanic ball of golden energy appeared. With a roar, he flung it at his opponent.

Obelisk snarled and drew his fist back. Angrily, he flung it forward against the ball of energy. Kaiba sneered, "You fool, I activate Negate Attack, to save Obelisk from your attack!"

"Obelisk _will _be destroyed," snarled Jaden. "I activate Trap Jammer, discarding Final Fusion to negate your trap!"

Kaiba's eyes widened. "WHAT THE HELL?"

The vortex was about to appeared and absorb the massive ball of energy, but disappeared. Obelisk put both his arms against the ball and braced his weight against it. Sweat poured down Electrum's face as he struggled to keep it from being reflected back at him. Kaiba was now on his knees, sweat pouring down his brow.

Yugi watched the two in awe. The power of the struggle was sending waves of energy about. His Puzzle shone in reaction to the titanic power around it. "This Jaden Yuki…" he whispered to no one in particular. "If I wanted anyone to succeed me, I don't know whether it would be Kaiba or Jaden."

Normally, Joey would have angrily commented that as Yugi's best friend, _he _deserved Yugi's endorsement to be the next King of Games. Instead, he was watching the battle in awe.

To everyone's shock, Obelisk gave a grunt and pushed forward. The ball moved backwards and with a final roar that would have shattered the heavens and made Ra shiver, he pushed it: right back at Electrum.

"But this can't be!" roared Zane. "It was thirteen hundred points weaker than Electrum!"

Jaden, in sharp contrast, grinned. Electrum raised its hand, and the nexus of energy it had used originally, appeared out of nowhere, hit the ball of energy and completely shattered it. It burst out of the other end, and continued on towards Obelisk. Electrum struck a pose with his arm forward and his index and middle finger pointing upwards. He lucked ridiculous, but the golden nexus split into four spheres of energy: one blue, one green, one brown, and one yellowish-red.

"Even Obelisk can't stand up to the elements!" yelled Jaden. The four blasts hit him at different places, and bounced off his invulnerable skin. Electrum drew his fist in and the four combined into one golden nexus again, which, with a thrust of his fist, crashed into Obelisk's chest. Unlike Slifer, whose demise against Tea's Parshath the Sky Paladin, was a bit drawn out, Obelisk's destruction was quick and decisive.

He was completely shattered to pieces as the nexus came in contact with him, and his roar of anger drowned Kaiba's howl of anguish and the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon's growl of shock at the destruction of its comrade.

Everyone stared at Jaden who was more shocked than the rest of them put together. "Did… that just happen?" he muttered to no one in particular.

His reverie was broken by a cold voice. It was like none that the young duelist had ever heard. He had faced the three Legendary Demons under the control of a madman bent on achieving power. He had battled a psychotic man who was convinced that he had to use 'the Light' to destroy all evil on Earth. But nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to this voice. It would have given old man Kagemaru a heart attack.

"_No one. Destroys. Obelisk_."

Everyone turned to look at Seto Kaiba standing upright and staring at Jaden. His eyes didn't look mad, but they scared the pants of Jaden. The CEO's eyes, normally arrogant or mocking, and rarely, with his brother or Serenity, soft, were absolutely emotionless. It looked as if someone had re-written his mind so that he was no longer human.

"_I will beat you_."

"Kaiba," snapped Yugi. "Get out of this," he snarled and walked up to the CEO. He put his arm on the Blue Eyes duelist's arm, but Kaiba shook it off and said, "_Leave me_." The voice sent shivers down the spine of even Yami.

He continued to stare at Jaden in that same, emotionless way as the E-Hero duelist nervously ended his turn.

(Kaiba: 3100, Zane: 2500, Kyle: 0, Jaden: 1100, Tea: 5400, Alexis: 0) (Electrum: 5000)

Tea drew nervously. A broad grin spread across her face. "I play Pot of Greed." She drew, increasing her hand size to three. "Next I activate Oracle of Rebirth, which lets me pay half my life-points to special summon any one angel from my graveyard, ignoring any summoning conditions. I choose to summon my Seraphim Monarch (2500/1000)!"

All monsters on Tea's field returned to their previous level of strength as the powerful seraphim was reborn. Tea grinned. "Unfortunately, the cost of summoning him still applies, so I must once again pay half my life-points."

Tea, who had been leading in terms of life-points, now dropped to a miniscule 1350. "But its well worth it. I'm not suiciding with Electrum: oh no. I'm not taking a risk like that again. I'll just set one card facedown and do something far more beneficial. I'm attacking that Cyber End Dragon!"

Zane however, was calm. "I activate Wabuko, to protect me from your attack."

Tea snarled in frustration and ended her turn.

(Kaiba: 3100, Zane: 2500, Kyle: 0, Jaden: 1100, Tea: 1350, Alexis: 0)

Kaiba drew, still glaring coldly at Jaden. His rage had finally got the better of him, and he was going to release it all upon Jaden Yuki. He had drawn Megamorph. A useless card at this point. He had the highest life-points of all four duelists, so it would reduce his dragon's ATK to a mere 2250. Instead, he would target Truesdale.

"Just to be sure you can't pull anything, I'm activating my _own_ Monster Reborn to revive the Lord of Dragons (1200/1100) in defense mode!" He slammed a Monster Card on his disk. Then a strange Spellcaster-type monster materialized in front of him. He was a man with the hood of his robe resembling a dragon's head, and his body was concealed by the robe. He was kneeling with arms crossed across his chest.

"Now Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, put an end to the irritation of the Cyber End Dragon once and for all!"

The dragon fired three massive blasts of energy from it's mouth. They hurtled towards Zane's dragon. "You shouldn't have made such a move without thinking, Mr. Kaiba," sneered Zane.

"I activate Magical Arm Shield," chuckled Zane. "NO WAY," roared Kaiba angrily.

"I can only activate this Trap Card when I have a face-up Monster on my side of the field, and when you have two or more face-up Monsters on your side and you declare an attack with one of them," explained Zane. "I can temporarily take control of your other monster and throw it in the way of your Ultimate Dragon's attack. You only have your Lord of Dragons (1200/1100), so…"

Then, a strange contraption materialized from the card hologram; it was a white shield-shaped device with an opening on the front-middle of it, and the door on it opened. Then from inside the device, a mechanical arm reached out and grabbed the Lord of Dragons, and pulled it in front of the Cyber End Dragon, just as the attack was hit. Luckily for Kaiba, it was in defense mode, so he didn't lose any life-points. But he did lose a very good chance to gain an advantage.

He had also wasted his Monster Reborn.

Kaiba, surprisingly, didn't explode. He had calmed down a bit after Obelisk's destruction at Jaden's hands, but he was still furious. He glared at Zane and ended his turn.

Zane drew and with a strange grin, he announced, "I have here a very powerful card in my hand. It can only be activated on the condition that I don't play any other cards this turn, and I must pay one thousand life-points at the same time."

He smirked and said, "I activate General's Last Resort! If I abide by the conditions given above, I can have one monster on my field attack you directly although its ATK must be halved. So Cyber End Dragon…" he gestured. "I would normally attack you, Ms. Gardner, but you're not half the threat Mr. Kaiba is. So, go ahead and attack him directly. Super Strident Blaze!"

The massive beast opened all three of its mouths even as everyone gasped. Kaiba just had time to cross his arms over his face as the titanic blast hit him full on. Bypassing his Ultimate Dragon, it knocked him off his feet and reduced his life-points to a mere 1100, putting Zane in the lead.

He got up with a gasp, and to everyone's shock, he was smirking. The previous discomfort that Yugi had felt was gone. It was unnatural for Kaiba to be sol filled with rage. Sure, he would normally get a bit cranky and angry, but his characteristic attitude was just this: carefree and arrogant.

"That is an excellent card," he commented. "I've been trying to get one myself, but it was a limited edition. I might have to just go and duel Pegasus himself to get it," he said to himself thoughtfully.

Zane was a bit put off by Kaiba's strange attitude, but ended his turn, glad that he Kaiba wasn't as furious with him as he was with Jaden.

Jaden drew. He couldn't suicide Electrum with Seraphim Monarch, as that would relieve him of his only defense. But he could do something else, and win the duel in the process. "I'll use Electrum to attack your Seraphim Guardna (2900/3900)!"

Everyone sucked in their breath as Electrum fired its nexus of golden energy at its opponent. Their was an explosion, and when the smoke cleared, Guardna was gone. However, Tea still had 1350 life-points. "I discarded Kuriboh (300/200), to reduce all damage that would have been done to me to zero!" she said mischievously.

Jaden's attack had accomplished quite a bit, even though Tea was still in the game. She had lost a powerful defense monster, and all her Seraphim's had lost five hundred attack points. "I end my turn," sighed Jaden.

Tea drew and ignored the card she had picked up. "Jaden Yuki," she smirked. "It's over for you." He raised an eyebrow. "And how might that be?"

"I'll show you how! I activate my facedown trap card Angelic Force, which converts all monsters on the field to angel-types till the end of the turn!"

No one had anticipated such a move, even though it was such an obvious card in the strategy that Tea was using. "But that means…" paled Jaden. "My Seraphims now have unbeatable power!"

The duel field glowed with white light so bright that it blinded both the duelists and the spectators. When the light cleared, they were greeted by a comic scene.

The Summon Priest had softer skin, and was dressed in blue robes instead of black ones. Electrum had two, fairy-like wings sprouting from his shoulders, and poor Neos… Nope, I won't go into that.

Both the Cyber End Dragon and the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon had been radically transformed in ways that made their owners moan and grumble.

"Let's see," chuckled Tea. "We have a total of…. Nine angels on the field."

"No. Way." That was all Jaden could say. While the Summon Priest (1600/2400) was still at a mediocre level of strength, the others were immeasurably powerful. Seraphim Gunner and Seraphim Blader both had fifty-one hundred attack points, and the Seraphim Monarch, with seventy-five hundred attack points, was stronger than any monster really needed to be.

"Next I'll summon another Seraphim, Seraphim Sabre (1600/1500)!" An angel that looked similar to the Blader appeared, except its sword was shorter and more jagged. Its ATK shot up to fifty-three hundred, while Seraphim Blader and Gunner were at fifty-five hundred. The Seraphim Monarch, at 8200, could have destroyed a Power-Bonded Cyber End Dragon without breaking a sweat.

Tea made a face. "Unfortunately, I can only attack with one monster per turn if I've activated Angelic Force, so I can only take out one of you this turn. My choice is obvious. Seraphim Monarch, attack Electrum and end it with Sword of Divinity!"

A bolt of golden energy appeared in the giant angel's hand and transformed into a golden blade. Tea nodded at Jaden. Electrum fired its attack at the oncoming attacker, but it hit the massive blade and was absorbed into it. The king of angels was above Jaden, and bearing down on Electrum. With a single slash of its sword, Electrum was sliced in half. With a bright flash of light, it completely disappeared.

Jaden was able to take his loss well. As Neos disappeared as well, he offered Tea half-hearted grin. "Good duel."

He glanced over at Zane. A stream of sweat was pouring down the machine duelist's face. He was up against one of the most powerful dragons in Duel Monsters, not to mention an army of invincible angels. All he had was his Cyber End Dragon. Which, if he didn't play his cards right (pun not intended), would be gone anyway.

It was a two on one duel now. And it was Kaiba's turn. "Time to put an end to this duel," he exclaimed. "It's been going on for long enough, the last thirteen thousand wor- I mean the last forty minutes. I activate Silent Doom, which lets me summon a normal monster from my graveyard in defense mode. I have only three normal monsters in my graveyard, so I think you know my choice…."

Zane groaned as the giant form of the Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) appeared next to its fused counterpart with its wings folded across its body. "Monsters summoned by Silent Doom cannot attack," pointed out Zane. "That had no point."

"You'll see why. I'll set one card facedown and have my beast attack the Cyber End Dragon!" For the fourth or fifth time in the duel, the massive, three-headed dragon attacked its mechanical counterpart. Surprisingly, the attack was successful this time, with the Cyber End Dragon being blown to pieces. The jumbled pieces of metal, wires, and circuitry disappeared in pixels of light before they even hit the ground, and Zane's life-points dropped to 2000.

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Zane drew and looked sadly at Tea. "It's been a good duel, Ms Gardner. I activate Premature Burial, to once again revive my Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)." Tea sweat-dropped as the massive machine reappeared. "You think for once that you'd refrain from using that thing."

Kaiba ignored him.

Zane continued. "I would have normally used my next card on you, Mr. Kaiba, but it would be far too cowardly a manner to defeat you. No. I wish to use my full power when I beat you. That is why it is time for Ms. Gardner to leave the duel. I activate Cybernetic Might!"

The Cyber End Dragon began to glow. "My skipping my battle phase, I can deal you half the attack points of one machine on my field as damage to your life-points." Tea closed her eyes. Half of four thousand was two thousand. She had thirteen hundred and fifty life-points left.

"It was an excellent experience dueling you. Your angels rival the most powerful dragons and machines." The Cyber End Dragon spat a ball of energy at Tea from its central mouth. It bypassed her monsters and hit her on the chest. She winced as her monsters disappeared and her life-points dropped to 0. She shuddered, crossed her arms, and left the field to stand beside Jaden and Alexis. The latter whispered something in her boyfriend's ear, and the he cracked up.

Tea moved away.

It was now a one on one duel, between two who actually had a history of rivalry.

The Cyber End Dragon, powerful as it was, was five hundred points weaker than the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. "I'm going to play a card I'm sure you remember from our last duel. I play Heavy Mech Platform (500/500), in attack mode!" A piece of steel what simply looked like a platform appeared on the field. "Next I'll activate its Union ability. Combine with Cyber End Dragon!" The platform creaked and disappeared. Suddenly, the Cyber End Dragon glowed and its stats increased to 4500/3300. Kaiba grunted in irritation.

"It may benefit you, but I need to expand my options." He glanced distastefully at the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. "Especially with that thing on the field. I play the Card of Sanctity." Zane drew four cards, while Kaiba drew three.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Kaiba drew and sneered, "Its time for this duel to end already! I equip Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon with Megamorph, to double its ATK to 9000!"

The dragon, large as it was, grew in size even more. "Attack and end it with Neutron Blast!" For the _sixth _time, the Ultimate Dragon blasted its mechanical opponent.

"This is really déjà vu!" cried Zane as he slipped a card in the magi/trap slot of his Duel Disk. "Activate Limiter Removal!" The Cyber End Dragon doubled in size. "Counter attack with Super Strident Blaze!"

The giant machine heaved its heads up and fired a trio of energy blasts at its opponent. The two energy blasts clashed in mid-air. Kaiba roared in a hoarse voice, "Activate facedown Covering Fire, sacrificing my Blue Eyes to my Ultimate Dragon to boost its ATK to 12000!"

Kaiba's signature card disappeared and was absorbed by his powerful fusion. Its mouth opened wider and more energy streamed out, pushing the Cyber End Dragon back. "I activate my second Limiter Removal," yelled Zane over the sound of roaring dragons.

The Cyber End Dragon's ATK jumped to 16000, and it once again countered its opponent.

Kaiba refused to lose. "I activate my quick-play spell card, Dragon's Ultimate Sanctuary, which lets me discard spell cards from my hand to boost the attack points of one monster on my field by 1000 for every card that I discarded. I discard Polymerization, Obligatory Summon, A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon, Dimension Fusion, and Card of Demise to boost my dragon to a giant seventeen thousand!"

Zane countered without hesitation. "Hold on! I activate Battle Fusion, which boost by monster's ATK by that of yours!" The Cyber End Dragon's ATK skyrocketed to 33000, a level of power unmatchable by even the Gods.

"I WILL WIN!" roared Kaiba. "I activate my quick-play Spell Snatcher! It lets me copy the effect of a quick-play spell that you've used this turn. I choose Battle Fusion!" As everyone watched in horror, the Ultimate Dragon's ATK increased to an unbeatable fifty thousand.

"It's over!" cried Zane. "I activate my final quick-play spell card, Oracle of Renewal! I can pay all but one of my life-points to bring back one card that's been sent to the graveyard anytime during this duel. I know the perfect one: the Final Fusion that Jaden discarded when he activated Trap Jammer a few turns ago. Now both of us lose the combined attack points of our monsters, meaning it's a draw!"

The attacks of the machine and the dragon became even more ferocious, even as their was an explosion, and waves of light that signaled eighty-three thousand points of damage each sped towards the two duelists.

"Any card would have been better," smirked Kaiba. "I chain my final trap card, Barrel Behind the Door, which means I can take all damage done to me and throw it right back at you!"

The wave of light was stopped and absorbed by a barrel that had appeared suddenly. It was fired back at Zane, who was hit by both waves of light. He lost one-hundred and sixty-six thousand life-points, which was fifteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine more than he had.

There was, of course, an explosion of immeasurable magnitude. When the smoke cleared, Zane was unconscious. Kaiba was standing up, gasping for air, but grinning all the same.

Yugi thought to himself, "_Kaiba, you are truly the greatest duelist I know_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Marik stared at the magical screen floating in the air. This was impossible. How could they be so powerful? Kaiba was beginning to attain a threat status that rivaled even Yugi. None of the duelists that Marik had been able to touch them. The last one, Pentan, had been armed with a frickin' God, and Yami had been able to defeat him without even using his full power.

Yami and Kaiba would require…. Special treatment. Of course, Marik himself could go, but he didn't want to waste his time. Besides, why take a chance? As for Dartz, the fool would be like a plaything in Yami's hands. To keep them busy, he would send a battalion of troops and duelists. He would take the New York Palace, one way or the other.

On the other hand, it was time to pay a visit to a certain Kagemaru…..

Fifteen thousand words, thirty-five pages, and a forty-one turn duel… I hope the wait was worth it. I'm extremely busy with school, so updates might become a bit slower.

**I finally got my results, and to my surprise, I scraped a 3.8. I can't give you the Original Cards right now. See it next chapter (maybe) **

**Thanks a lot everyone, for reading this story. But don't forget to…… REVIEW.**


	25. Enter the Shadows

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Enter the Shadows

**Hmm… A bit short, but as I said, I've been busy. **

**Princess Yunariana: Thanks for the review. Glad you liked the duel.**

"Do you chumps really believe you'll stand any chance against me?" sneered Darren.

"More than a chance," said Weevil Underwood, resident doofus, in a haughty voice. "Yeah," added Rex Raptor, his brainless cohort. "We'll tear you apart!"

"I don't think you stand much of a chance against four of the better Duelists at Battle City," added Espa Roba.

"I don't know why you called us here, Mr. Hirugashi," said Mako Tsunami plainly. He was the smartest of the group of idiots. "But it seems you were playing a prank on us. That's something I don't appreciate! So if you want to duel, bring it on!"

"With pleasure," said Darren in a voice as dark as the alley they were in. "Since it's a four on one duel, I'm somewhat at a disadvantage. To compensate, I'd request that we begin with four thousand life-points instead of the normal 8000."

His opponents didn't object, and instead activated their Duel Disks.

(Darren: 4000, Weevil: 4000, Rex: 4000, Mako: 4000, Espa: 4000)

Darren drew his sixth card and realized that the game was already over. "I set a card facedown and set one facedown. Then I activate Painful Choice This card allows me to pick any 5 cards from my deck and show them to you. Then you decide which one I get to move to my hand, while the rest go to the Graveyard. Here are my choices."

He displayed the five cards. They were Inazu the Lightning Prince (1400/0), three Skull Servants (300/200), and Doom Knight (1800/1000)."

"What a mismatched deck," grumbled Rex. Of course, all his opponents agreed that they would let him keep a Skull Servant. He did so, and gestured that his turn was over.

Weevil set one card. "Next I play Insect Barrier, preventing you from attacking me with any Insect-type monsters!" A large, electrical barrier appeared in front of Darren's field.

A normal opponent would have laughed at this move. But of course, Darren was anything but a normal opponent. "You plan to use DNA Surgery."

Rex played next, but Weevil yelled, "I activate my face-down trap card, DNA Surgery to convert all monsters on the field to insects!" Rex looked at him with disgust, and summoned Sabersaurus (1900/500) in attack mode!" A large Triceratops appeared. It was orange in color and covered with spikes. It would have looked intimidating, if the spikes hadn't been replaced by feelers, and it had grown insect like-legs.

Mako drew. "I play Umiiruka, to turn the field into an ocean and grant my water type monster five hundred extra attack points. Next I summon Sea-Serpent: Warrior of Darkness (1800 + 500 2300/1500) in attack mode." A large, aquatic warrior appeared armored with purple mail. He carried a large staff.

It was finally Espa's turn. He hadn't been blessed with a good hand, and was only able to set a facedown monster.

Darren shook his head and drew. Pathetic fools, one and all. "I activate the Seal of Orichalcos, destroy your pathetic Umiiruka!"

Weevil and Rex, who had had unpleasant experiences with this particular field card, paled. The green, five-pointed, pentacle surrounded by a circle appeared on the ground and the ocean was vaporized. "Next I play Soul Release, to remove from play all monsters in my graveyard." Ghostly images of the monsters he had sent to the graveyard flew by their master.

"Next comes the extremely powerful Dimension Fusion. I pay two thousand life-points to special summon all of them to the field." Darren's field was soon swarmed with the two ghostly zombies (300 + 500 800/200), the terrible knight (1800 + 500 2300/1000), and the offspring of Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (1400 + 500 1900/0).

"Then I summon the Skull Servant from my hand." A third ghostly monster appeared on Darren's field. "Before you amateurs complain like the dolts you are, the Seal doubles my monster zone. But screw that. I flip Archfiend Soldier (1900 + 500 2400/1500) in attack mode." A purple horned fiend appeared on his field. He wore a golden cape.

"Now for the fun to begin. I play the Card of Sanctity, to draw until I have six cards." Darren completely replenished his hand. "Time to end this. I flip my facedown card, Ultimate Offering. My paying an extra five hundred life-points per summon, I can make any number of extra summons this turn. Watch as I pay two and a half thousand, to sacrifice five of my monsters to summon five monarchs in my hand."

Every monster except the Doom Knight disappeared in columns of light, and suddenly the field was being ravaged by the elements. A white, semi-humanoid creature with a bulbous body appeared on the far left, signaling ice. This Mobius the Frost Monarch

Next to it was the electricity-manipulating Monarch, Zaborg. Beside Zaborg, a pillar of flame burst upwards from the ground, and when it faded it revealed a figure similar in size to Zaborg, wearing armor similar to that of a samurai's. This was Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch.

Raiza, the mighty Storm Monarch appeared next to Thestalos. A behemoth encased in stone armor to emerge from the Earth next to the King of Storms. This was Granmarg the Rock Monarch. (All: 2400 + 500 2900/1000)

The duelists opposite him gulped. "Now their effects activate. First Mobius can destroy your Insect Barrier and DNA Surgery!" Weevil gasped as the icy king blew away his two cards.

"Zaborg and Granmarg will nuke your Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness, Tsunami, and your facedown card, Roba. Finally, thanks to Thestalos' effect, one of you people loses a card from your hand. I choose the middle card in your hand, Tsunami, since you are the most powerful of the four of you."

Mako grimaced and discarded Torrential Tribute: a card that would could have saved them.

The only card on their combined fields was Rex's Sabersaurus. "Time to end this. First of all, destroy his reptile, Doom Knight." The terrible warrior decapitated the dinosaur with a swing of its sword.

Rex gulped as his life-points dropped to 3500. It didn't really matter though. "Now each of my monarchs can attack you idiots directly one by one!"

Raiza and Zaborg both fired blasts of dusty wind and lightning at Rex. He was hit by the blasts head on, and lost consciousness even before he hit the wall of the Seal. His life-points shot down to zero.

Mako was bombarded by a shower of rocks, courtesy of Granmarg. His life-points plummeted to a meager 1100. Being a physically fit, deep-sea fisher, he was able to weather the attack.

Weevil and Espa, however, weren't so lucky. They were hit by blasts from Thestalos and Mobius respectively, the twin attacks of fire and ice knocking them off their feet.

Mako just happened to gasp. "Hi-Hirugashi! Its not over yet. We're still in the game. Its three on one, and you have only thirty-five hundred life-points! We will defeat your monarchs!"

Darren shrugged, a mocking expression on his face. "Perhaps you will…. Perhaps you won't. I think the second one is more likely, especially since I'm playing Surprise Attack from the Darkness, which allows every monster I've summoned this turn, regardless of their current position, an extra attack during my end phase. Sayonara."

Before the three duelists could answer, they were obliterated by a rush of pure power from eleven, powerful monsters. Their soulless bodies hit the ground next to Rex's as the Seal contracted around them.

Darren shook his head in amusement as he saw the terrified faces of the four, 'expert' duelists staring out at him from the Seal of Orichalcos card. They began to fade away, and Darren thought to himself, "I'm glad I did this. It really did allow me to let off some steam."

Suddenly, his cell phone rang. Raising an eyebrow, he pulled it out of the pocket of his black trench coat. He accepted the call, and put it to his ear. A sadistic, creepy voice rasped at the other end, "Hirugashi."

"Ah yes," said Darren in an uncommonly polite voice. "Master Marik." Darren considered Marik to be his true master, and was extremely contemptuous of the weakness of that fool Dartz.

"I have a little job for you."

"Oh?"

"I want you to go to Duel Academy. No, not to duel someone. Somewhere _underneath_ the school, there are three certain cards sealed away. It would take someone of considerable power to take them out. They've been there for nearly two years, and ironically, the one who sealed them away was the one whom you dueled. Jaden Yuki. The boy didn't know what he had done, yet his sheer might made it almost impossible for a normal being to enter that place. You however, are anything but normal. Go there and get me those cards. By morning. I have plans for them."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagemaru was old. And getting older by the second. As he lay on what would have been his deathbed, he mused that he would have never thought that he would find himself in such a position while he was at the peak of his strength, dueling Jaden Yuki. The boy had gone on about how she should have found it in himself to be able to overcome his weaknesses in old age. And he, like a fool, had agreed to try to do so. And had lost everything.

He was completely alone. He had tried shouting for help, nut nobody had come. And that was the true, harsh, reality of it all. No one came. Absolutely no one. The end was upon him.

He couldn't move, and he opened his eyes to get one last, bleary glance of the dark, musty room that he intended to be the last thing he looked at. A cold chuckle echoed throughout the room. Someone was there! But as soon as the euphoria filled him, it dissipated. There was no way he could be saved now. And it was probably a figment of his imagination, anyway.

Suddenly, he felt something strike him. It was cold, and very painful. He tried to scream, but his mouth was too dry. Suddenly, he began to writhe in pain. His blood was boiling, and his skin felt like it was being ripped off. His head throbbed. Was it possible for one's hair to hurt? It seemed so.

Suddenly, all the pain was gone. And so was all the weakness that would have killed him. He found that he had pulled himself upright with ease that he had not felt since…since... _that_ time.

He saw an amused man standing in the corner of his room. He looked familiar. Kagemaru had seen him on the news six years previously. "You are Marik Ishtar," he cried, and was immediately taken back by his voice. It sounded different as well. "Perhaps a mirror," suggested Marik.

Kagemaru didn't own a mirror. Hell, he didn't own many things. Marik yawned and pulled out a long, golden rod from his purple robes. He waved it and a blast of yellow light issued forth from it. It took the shape of a mirror, and Kagemaru was shocked to see his appearance in it.

He looked to be about thirty-five years old, with long, black hair hanging below his shoulders, and he was extremely muscular. He wore no shirt, but he did wear a long, masculine-looking cloak that was colored a deep green, and wore long, black pants. His appearance was identical to the time when he was at the peak of his strength as the leader of the Shadow Riders.

"What-how?" spluttered Kagemaru. "I decided that I could use some help in a couple of my ventures. So I came to you. I had other choices. I needed a duelist of considerable skill, and I was considering Sartorius. Perhaps you've heard of him? No? Oh well. I figured that since you had a personal interest in it, and since I could help you in my own ways to reach your former level of strength, you would be the best person."

Kagemaru digested the fact and spat, "What makes you think I'll help you?"

Marik shook his head. "Well, perhaps the fact that with a flick of my Rod here could transform you back into the helpless old fool that you were would make you rethink your opinion."

Kagemaru stopped dead. "What do you want?"

"Ah, it's a long story. I'd tell you on the way, but I want to finish it right here and now. To be very frank, I'm part of a little, 'bad guys' club. There are three of us, and all of us have a vendetta against a certain someone. His name is Yugi Moto. Yes, I'm sure you've heard the name. He has grown annoyingly powerful, and even my elite duelists don't come close to him. Another irritating flee is Seto Kaiba."

"I can handle them myself, but frankly its not worth my time. I'm here with a proposition for you. You defeat the two of them for me, and I will give you what you most desire. I've already brought you back from the living dead. Then comes the one who sent you there. Jaden Yuki. Finish Moto and Kaiba for me, and I'll let you deal with Yuki in whichever way you please. It's nearing winter. Remember what they say: revenge is a dish best served cold."

Kagemaru considered. He got to stay young. That was definitely good. And he got to pay Jaden Yuki back. What more could he ask for? "I would accept…" he said slowly. "But as of now, I would be helpless against the legendary power of Yugi Moto's Egyptian Gods and Kaiba's invincible dragons. I would require three cards, just three cards, that I've used in the past. Without them, I'm quite helpless. But with them…"

"I've already taken care of that. One of my men retrieved them from their prison under Duel Academy. Here they are." With a dark smile, he held up three cards in his hand. Kagemaru's eyes bulged at the sight of them, and he almost lunged forward to grab them. Marik shook his head patronizingly. "Not now. You get them during the test."

"Test? What test?"

"I've heard stories about you. But I must see if they're true. Therefore, I wish for you to duel."

"Then let's begin," smirked the other villain.

"Oh, you're not dueling me. Nope, your opponent is someone else. He's currently unavailable. That's why I'd be much obliged if you'd join me so that you can meet this umm… delightful fellow, and begin your test. What do you say?"

"I say let's meet this umm… delightful fellow."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"That was easily some of the most intense dueling I've ever seen," commented Yugi.

"Thank you," said Kaiba stiffly. While he had won, the duel had taken its toll on his body.

"That finishing move was cool," said Zane in genuine praise. "I never expected you to pull of a move like that."

"One hundred and sixty-six thousand points of damage," muttered Jaden. "That's a super combo." "You generally require a super combo to do one hundred and sixty-six thousand points of damage," said Kaiba blankly.

Surprisingly, the hotel lobby was quite empty. Even when they used the elevator to reach their rooms, they didn't see anyone. Kaiba opened his room door, and to his shock, and that of everyone else, Kevin Hunter was standing right there, with an extremely scary grin on his face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagemaru found himself on the fiftieth floor of the Empire State Building. "What are we doing here?" he questioned. "You'll see."

Marik led Kagemaru to a large, empty room from what had been an office. In the middle of the room was a small pillar, about four feet high. It was jet black in color, and the entire room was pitch dark. However, a single object was emanating light from the pillar.

The object looked like a bluish white pyramid. It had a iron loop at the top, and a large, golden eye was emblazoned across the front. This was the Pyramid of Light. "Stand back," ordered Marik.

Kagemaru grudgingly obeyed. A dark grin spread across' Marik's face, and he raised his Rod. With a hiss, and to Kagemaru's shock, he slashed his hand with it. Not too hard, so that only a few drops of blood fell upon the Pyramid. He raised the Rod and began to chant in an archaic tongue that even the darkest of wraiths avoided speaking in.

The Rod began to glow. Marik's chanting grew louder. Kagemaru could feel the darkness pulsating around him. "What's going on?" he snarled, and reached forward with a massive hand to spin the smaller man around.

He found he couldn't. A tendril of darkness wrapped around it, and held him in place. Another tendril shut his mouth. He struggled against the overwhelming strength of the forces holding him in place, but all his limbs were firmly held in place.

He watched in horror as a cold grin spread across Marik's face. A jet of blue light blasted out of the Pyramid of Light, and connected with a blast of golden light from Marik's Rod. The point at which they met began to grow, and continued to grow until it was about eight feet in diameter. Marik stopped chanting, and the light began to clear.

Kagemaru was freed, but he wasn't able to speak. The sight beheld by him was so terrible, it would have silenced even the bravest man.

Standing in front of Marik, was a man. At least, he looked like a man. He stood at least seven and a half feet tall, with muscles that made Kagemaru feel like a wannabe' wrestler. He had blonde, wild hair, till his shoulders, and a malicious glint in his eyes. He was dressed in a brown cloak and pants. Around his neck was the Pyramid of Light.

When he spoke, his voice sounded echoed the malice of every prisoner of the Nine Circles of Hell. "Marik. It took you long enough."

Marik shook his head in amusement. "You never were satisfied, you greedy old fellow. Anyway, we had better get down to business. I trust you understand the situation. The magic linked our minds temporarily when I revived you from your dominion in the Pyramid of Light."

The man's mouth curled into a feral grin. "The Pharaoh! Where is he? I wish to slaughter him with my own to hands!"

"In time! In time! I need him defeated first, so that I can strip him of his power, and then I can continue on. After that, I'll let you do as you please with him and his little friends. I never liked torture anyway. Too much of a bore. Anyhow, we've got work to do. I'd like you to meet an acquaintance of mine. Kagemaru, meet my friend, Anubis, the God of Death. Anubis, meet the venerable Kagemaru."

Anubis eyed the other man with disdain. "Who is this fool?"

Kagemaru snarled. It was against his nature to let himself be insulted. Even though the other man radiated power beyond his understanding, he stepped forward and spat, "you would do well not to insult me."

Anubis raised an eyebrow, and said, "You are a feisty one. No one has spoken to me like that in a very long time." With a roar, Kagemaru lashed out with his massive fist. It connected with Anubis' face, and he bent backwards. A grin spread across the mortal's face, which immediately turned to a look of shock when Anubis flexed his neck, and the mere movement of his head threw Kagemaru's fist back.

Before the man could react, Anubis stretched out his arm, and grabbed Kagemaru by the throat, raising him up. "Anubis," said Marik warningly. "Don't kill him. I need him."

"I don't think so, Marik," rasped Anubis. "I am, after all, the God of Death. Its been five thousand years since I've taken a life. Let me do what I must."

He began to tighten his grip, and began to constrict the other man's wind pipe. "I said stop!"

Anubis ignored him, and whispered, "Die, fool."

At that second, Marik gave an inhuman shriek, and a bolt of golden energy lanced out of his Rod and knocked Anubis of his feet. Kagemaru fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

"I GAVE YOU LIFE, ANUBIS," thundered Marik. "AND I CAN TAKE IT AWAY JUST AS EASILY. YOU DIRECTLY DISOBEYED MY ORDERS. SEE THAT THIS IS NOT REPEATED."

He turned on Kagemaru and sneered, "I don't know what to say. Only a fool, even a brave fool, would try to engage the God of Death in direct combat. You shouldn't have bothered, anyhow. You'd be getting plenty of him in what I've planned."

"What do you mean?" asked Anubis quizzically, as he got to his feet. It seemed to Kagemaru that Marik was in charge. Even the powerful Anubis had been silenced by his outburst.

"Ah yes. I forgot to mention. You will be dueling Kagemaru to see if he is worth recruiting."

Kagemaru had expected Anubis to say that Kagemaru wasn't worth his time. He expected him to say that he didn't want to duel such a fool. He certainly didn't expect him to grin and say, "Of course. A duel is the next best thing to a good kill. When do we commence?"

"Five minutes. Go to the top floor of this building. I have to speak with your opponent. Oh and Anubis?" he added.

"Yes?"

"Try to leave him alive." "Spoilsport," growled Anubis. He smirked and vanished into thin air.

"Anyway, I have something for you," chuckled Marik. He held out three cards in his hand. Kagemaru looked at them hungrily and snatched them out of his opponent's hand. He grinned cruelly. He had been foolish enough to believe Yuki's crap. He wouldn't make the same mistake this time.

"One of my men recovered your deck. Here it is." Marik handed the man his deck. Kagemaru slipped the three cards into it, and shuffled it. Marik gave him a Duel Disk. He slipped it on. "I'm ready."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was nearly midnight in New York City. Both duelists eyed each other with distaste as they prepared themselves. "You have no idea what you're in for, worm," snarled Anubis. The two duelists were standing on opposite ends of the terrace. Marik stood at the other side.

His arm flashed with dark energy, and a demonic, black Duel Disk appeared on it. It had spikes protruding all around it, and the two card slots looked more like bat's wings than metal flaps. A deck was already in the deck slot. "Don't worry, Anubis," snickered Marik. "I won't deprive you of your precious pyramid from now on. I can stick with my own beasts."

Kagemaru grimaced at the icky sight of his opponent's Duel Disk, and slipped on his own. Anubis didn't bother activating his Duel Disk. Kagemaru fired of the holographic projectors. "Let's duel!"

(Anubis: 8000, Kagemaru: 8000)

"I'll play first, said the God of Death with a morbid chuckle. "I summon Underworld Knight (2000/0) in attack mode." A grotesque knight appeared. Perhaps seven feet in height, he looked more demon than human. Luckily, his face was hidden by a large, black helmet. He sat on a black horse, who was armored as well. His eyes shown red. In one hand he hefted up a lance. The other clutched a daemon-blade.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." A chilling laugh cut through the air.

Kagemaru shivered. This guy was creeping him out. "I activate Polymerization, fusing Spirit Reaper (300/200) and Nightmare Horse (500/400) to summon Reaper on the Nightmare (800/600)!" The bony zombie dressed in a purple robe appeared next to a horse made of infernal blue energy wrapped in bandages. They were pulled into a vortex, and the resulting beast had the reaper riding the horse, with his scythe raised up.

"A pathetic excuse for a monster," rumbled Anubis.

"We'll see," countered Kagemaru.

"We will indeed. Make your move and bring me one step closer to victory."

"Reaper, attack his life-points directly and prove him wrong." Even as Anubis cried out in shock, the horse galloped towards the Underworld Knight, who brought its sword down on the attacker. It missed by an inch, and the point of his scythe fell towards Anubis' chest. The mighty God of Death caught it between a thumb and forefinger, but the reaper was able to force it down. He drew a drop of black blood: and eight hundred life-points.

"Reaper on the Nightmare can attack your life-points directly. It doesn't matter if you have monsters on the field. What's more, you must discard one card from your hand at random," sneered Kagemaru.

"You have achieved nothing. Nothing at all. I have powers beyond the comprehension of your pathetic mortal mind. I could destroy you would a _thought_. However, let's not get into that. For now, I will continue with using the damned souls of my deck to torture you. End your pathetic turn."

Kagemaru set a card facedown, and did so.

Anubis drew and drawled, "I summon Traitor Knight of Ruin (1800/1500)." Another knight appeared. This one didn't ride a horse, and was covered in white armor. However, although he gave of a bright light, it still looked evil. Perhaps it was the long saber it held in one hand, dripping with an unhealthy-looking, black fluid. Perhaps it was the shining, blank, cruel eyes beneath its cowl. Either way, it looked like a nasty piece of work.

"Traitor Knight, annihilate that pathetic zombie!" The knight hissed and flung its saber at the opposing rider. Suddenly, Kagemaru's facedown activated. An array of spirits merged flew out of it, and merged together to form an impenetrable, translucent wall. The saber plowed through the wall, but it looked slightly duller when it hit the reaper, who flung it away with ease. Also, Kagemaru's life-points were untouched.

"I activated Spirit Barrier, which reduces all damage to my life-points to 0, as long as I have a monster on the field. At the same time, Reaper on the Nightmare is indestructible in battle."

Anubis looked amused. "I see that you think you've got this little strategy all figured out. But let me tell you, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I am no man. I am no God either. I am ascended beyond those mediocre levels of power. I _am _Death. You'd better look lively. I'm going to tear you apart piece by painful piece."

Kagemaru had grown accustomed to being young again. His confidence had actually been bolstered by his opponent's bravado. "Talk is cheap. Go on ahead and take your best shot for all I care. With my current combo, you can't touch me."

Anubis knew that his opponent was right, but decided not to show it. "I end my turn."

Kagemaru drew and sneered, "I summon the Creator Incarnate (1600/1500) in attack mode." A golden armored warrior then appeared standing tall, a long, crimson blade in one hand. "Next I sacrifice it, using its effect to special summon The Creator (2300/3000) in defense mode." The golden armored warrior then disappeared and the powerful golden monster with a huge ring that had wings attached to its back appeared in it's place.

"With three thousand defense points, my Creator will be perfectly safe from your attacks until I get a chance to use its effect. For now I'll play Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two."

He smirked and discarded two cards. "I'll then have Reaper on the Nightmare attack you!"

Anubis grimaced as the zombie on horseback rode towards him. He didn't even feel the scythe cut through his arm. His fist clenched and the darkness around them pulsated.

(Anubis: 6400, Kagemaru: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Marik was enjoying the battle of cards and wills that were taking place between the two giants of power. He could, of course, take on both of them without breaking a sweat. But ever he needed allies. They would serve their purpose, and after that, Marik would dispense them. His ultimate purpose would be achieved.

"It's still early in the duel," mused Marik to himself. "But Anubis is too stupid to realize that his opponent is already setting up to deal out his killing blow."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Last of all, I'll set a card facedown. I end my turn," Kagemaru smirked.

Anubis drew. "I activate the magic card-.." "Hold it right there," sneered Kagemaru. "I activate Anti-Spell Fragrance, which forces the both of us to set all magic cards that we wish to activate. We cannot activate them until the next turn."

Anubis shrugged. "I don't care. This match is going to end, very, very soon. I activate my Underworld Knight's effect. If I have a light monster in play, I can pay five hundred life-points, forcing you to discard a card from your hand." Kagemaru would have normally been irritated by this, but instead grinned.

"I end my turn."

(Anubis: 5900, Kagemaru: 8000)

"For all your bravado, I've been dominating the duel from the start. You haven't touch me, while you've already lost over two thousand life-points."

Anubis didn't answer. Instead, he responded with a smirk.

Kagemaru shrugged and drew. He had only two cards in his hand. "I activate my Creator's ability, discarding Royal Decree from my hand, to special summon the monster you forced me to discard last turn. Meet my Giant Orc (2200/0)!"

A massive ogre appeared. It was repulsive in appearance, with a bulging belly. It wore a loin-cloth, and carried a large club. "Attack his Traitor Knight and put an end to its bother!" The orc hefted up its club and strode over to the weaker knight. "I don't think so," snickered Anubis.

"I activate my Traitor Knight's special ability. It really can prove to be a traitor. This time the victim is my unfortunate Underworld Knight. I can drain up to half the ATK of one monster on my field, and add it to Traitor Knight!" The attack points of the Traitor Knight of Ruin shot up to 2800, while the Underworld Knight dropped to a thousand.

The traitorous warrior brought its sword down in an arc, and a wave of light tore the attacking fiend apart.

Kagemaru shrugged. "Spirit Barrier still protects me. Anyway, my Reaper will now attack you!" Anubis gnashed his teeth in anger, and to Kagemaru's shock, the Pyramid of Light flared to life. A beam of energy flew out of it and hit the oncoming attacker. It was covered in a wave of destructive light. When it reappeared, its robes had been slashed to ribbons. The horse was covered with cuts and wounds, and its scythe was broken.

The Nightmare Horse feebly attempted to pummel Anubis head on. The God of Death grasped its head with one hand and threw it aside. However, his life-points dropped to an even lower 5100.

"Pathetic," he sneered.

A bead of sweat dripped down Kagemaru's forehead. He had been pummeling his opponent since the beginning, and Anubis didn't seem at all affected by it. It was as if the mighty duelist was toying with him… The way he smirked every time an attack hit him. They way he shrugged of every statement Kagemaru made. It unnerved him.

"Damn you," he snarled. "I will defeat you. I set my last card facedown and end my turn!"

Anubis drew his card. He was bored. "Before activating my facedown card, I pay five hundred life-points once again, forcing you to discard another card from your hand."

"That idiot!" thought Kagemaru as he sent Imperial Order to the graveyard. This kept getting better and better.

"Next I activate my facedown magic card, Revenge is Sweet. By destroying all monsters, on the field, both of us draw cards equal to the number of monsters destroyed. A much needed effect." A wave of darkness shattered all four monsters, and Kagemaru drew till he held four cards, and Anubis had a full hand of seven cards.

A dark grin spread across his face is face. "I am about to summon one of the most powerful creatures known to humans. It's strength is so great, I can only summon it by removing from play four monsters. They have to be light and dark. It's a Shadow Creature in the league of the legendary Exodia. Meet one of my ultimate beasts! Fallen Angel Zharrgast- Envoy of Hell (4000/0)!"

Kagemaru winced uneasily as four monster spirits appeared from Anubis' graveyard. Each one gave an unearthly howl, and disappeared. There was silence for a few seconds, and then the darkness around them began to pulsate. The cry of a tortured creature echoed throughout the air as spheres of darkness began to merge together to form a monstrous creature.

It was at least twelve feet tall. It was roughly humanoid in shape, although anyone could tell it was anything but human. Vampire-like wings sprouted from its back, and it wore blood red and black armor. Massive muscles rippled all over its body. It's blade had an ornate design, skeletal designs carved into hilt. The blade itself was broad and of a pure black, such that its very physical form appeared to be an illusion, and was roughly five feet in length.

Its face was the worst part of it all. It looked like it had been carved by someone who new everything about human features, yet had never uttered a kind word in his life. His features were normal, but something about it gave off a bad feeling. Everything about the fallen angel echoed hatred. Its eyes were blood red, and he glared at Kagemaru. It was as if he was made of hatred.

"A beast of pure hate, anger and other negative emotions," sneered Anubis, "Zharrgast was created during my many struggles against the Pharaohs of Egypt. All my sheer hatred and want for vengeance formed one being, and Zharrgast was the result. Only I can control his might. We'll see if you're up to the challenge."

Marik made an irritated sound from the sidelines. "You shouldn't have resorted to this beast. If you lose control, it will kill Kagemaru, and then I'll have to use a fair bit of energy to crush it."

"Don't worry, Marik," rasped Anubis. "I'm not going to lose control. But even if I did, it wouldn't kill this fool: it would annihilate him completely!" He burst into evil, cold, mirthless laughter.

"Now let me explain his effect. When I summon him, he has four thousand attack points. Next I can use his effect to pay one thousand life-points and summon a monster that has been removed from play, ignoring the summoning conditions. I choose one of my discarded cards, which had been Diabolos, King of the Abyss (2800/1000)!"

A massive, black dragon appeared. It had two large horns, and jagged teeth jutted out of its jaw. It was covered in metal armor. A line of drool dripped down its jaw.

"Its next effect states that a monster from play to increase Zharrgast's ATK by the number of monsters in my removed from play and graveyard pile that share an attribute with the sacrificed monster, multiplied by a thousand. Underworld Knight and my other discarded monster are both DARK. Therefore Zharrgast has six thousand attack points."

Kagemaru gazed in shock at his opponent. Six thousand attack points!

"Zharrgast, attack with Demarr Devil Blade!" The monster cried in anger, and hefted up its sword. It clasped it with both hands and rushed towards Kagemaru. He had no monsters on the field, so Spirit Barrier wouldn't protect him. "I activate my facedown Call of the Haunted, to resurrect Spirit Reaper (300/200)!"

Anubis let out a cry of rage that made the Elder Gods themselves tremble. The Fallen Angel brought down his sword and a wave of unholy black fire hit the Spirit Reaper. All its clothing was burnt off, and its skin was charred to the point where it was unrecognizable.

"I swear.. I WILL DEFEAT YOU!" screamed Anubis.

Kagemaru winced at the sheer rage of his opponent. But it didn't matter. Victory would now be his.

Anubis ended his turn, and Kagemaru drew. He began to laugh. It echoed Anubis' laughter: mirthless and cold. "Your Fallen Angel may be strong…. But compared to my beast its pathetic. This duel is now over. I send Spirit Barrier, Call of the Haunted, and Anti-Spell Fragrance to the graveyard, to summon my first Legendary Demon. Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (0/0)!!!!!"

**Damn, I've enjoyed writing Anubis' character. They really screwed him up in the movie. Well, my Anubis is gonna be one thing that the original wasn't: badass. Expect to see a lot of great action from him.**

**Just to avoid confusion, the word 'Legendary Demon' is the Japanese term for 'Sacred Beast'. **

**Original Cards:**

**Darren: Inazu the Lightning Prince, Doom Knight**

**Anubis: Underworld Knight, Traitor Knight of Ruin, Revenge is Sweet, Fallen Angel Zharrgast-Envoy of Hell**

**Please review! I got only one review for the last chapter. By the way, its my birthday on the 21****st****! More importantly: HP7 is coming out. I've waited for than two damned years for this!**

**About the story, I've got to options. If I continue with chapters that are 9K+, I'd say there are about eighteen left. If I stick to 5K chapters, the story is about half-done. Let me no what you think.**

**This chapter is chapter 25. Quite a milestone. Not to mention a chapter average of 5000 words.**

**REVIEW!**


	26. Enter the Shadows, Part 2

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Into the Shadows, Part 2

One of the shortest chapters in some time, but it needed to end where it needed to end. This marks the end of the middle arc of the story. Now the third and final arc will begin in chapter 27.

Metal Overlord 2.0: Huge review, lol. If you liked the Anubis vs. Kagemaru duel, I'm afraid you're going to be a bit disappointed. As for the Aster and Sartorius versus the 'D' and Strings duel, I'm sorry that its far too late into the story too tie something like that in. I could, but it would be very pointless. As for a fusion of Thenien and the End of Anubis… I've already got a card based on Anubis' demon form. Keep reading. The beginning of the end approaches.

Princess Yunariana: Thanks for the review. Yup, I had a great birthday. Thanks again.

Anubis looked around uneasily as the three trap cards disappeared. "What's going on?" he snarled.

Kagemaru ignored him. "Meet the first of the three unstoppable beasts who at one point were destined to destroy the world.

Flames flashed across the sky as something huge descended through the night, splitting the clouds apart with its bulk. Anubis' eyes widened as he saw just how huge the monster was, as it had to stretch hundreds of feet in length. It was a dark crimson color and very snake-like, though it did have two clawed limbs at the upper part of its body. Wide leathery wings spread out from its back and its sharp toothed jaws were framed by two pincers. Its sinuous body wrapped around the Empire Sate Building in such a way that its gigantic head was hovering above the terrace. Its eyes glared at everyone around it.

"What is this?" snarled Anubis. "A cheap copy of Slifer the Sky Dragon?"

Kagemaru's eyes were blazing red as he laughed madly. "True, the Demons were originally based on the Egyptian Gods. But there power is something else altogether. Uria, show him your strength!"

The titanic demon howled in rage and flames burst up from all around the terrace of the Empire State Building. "Don't try to escape," he said in an insane voice.

"Uria thrives of the power of traps! For every continuous trap in my graveyard, it has one thousand attack points!"

Anubis gasped. So that's why he was using the Creator! "I count seven, so Uria has more than enough points to annihilate your pathetic Fallen Angel." Red bolts of flame shot out of his cemetery slot and into the crystal on Uria's forehead and were absorbed into the legendary demon. Uria (7000/0) roared again as its new stats were officially displayed, dwarfing everything else that had been played so far in the duel.

"Damn it," snarled Anubis. "Seven thousand!"

"Uria, attack Zharrgast with Demonic Flame Cannon!" The massive creature opened its mouth, and a ball of flame began to form in it. It was as if it was sucking in all the light from the surrounding area. "I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN!" thundered Anubis as Zharrgast swung his blade in an arc, so that a wave of darkness flew towards the demon's head.

At that second, Uria let the attack lose, and it crashed through the wave of darkness, and completely incinerated Zharrgast without any resistance. The Fallen Angel's cry of hatred echoed eerily. "Too bad," chuckled Kagemaru.

Black fire danced in Anubis' eyes. Surprisingly, it wasn't rage. It was madness. "Yes… Truly a worthy opponent. Uria… Lord of Searing Flames…. You are doomed, one way or another."

Kagemaru, however, wasn't at all intimidated by Anubis' words. He stared haughtily at his opponent, who began to laugh in a cold, eerie manner. It was as if Satan himself was inhabiting Anubis. Kagemaru was also beginning to feel more arrogant, and for no reason, cold, mirthless chuckles found themselves escaping his lips as well.

Unable to control himself, Marik echoed shrieks of sardonic laughter. It was an eerie sight, the three villains standing on the top of the tallest building in New York, each one losing more and more of their sanity. And if this insanity was to be released on the world….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Before anyone could say a word, Kaiba had already activated his Duel Disk. Kevin smirked. "I'm glad that you want to get down to business. I'd advise your friends not to try anything. There are a great number of Marik's troops over here. It would be extremely disastrous if one of you was… affected before you were brought before Marik.

He activated his Duel Disk as well .Kaiba said to the others in a low voice, without taking his eyes of Kevin, "Be ready for anything. Get out of this place, and go to the Kaiba Corp. base in New York. It's on Third Avenue."

"I think not!" snarled Kyle and took a step forward. "You guys let me join you because I could help you against these creeps! Let me take on this guy. You'll will need Kaiba if they're trying the same strategy that they did yesterday."

"I'm not dueling anyone but Kaiba!" snapped Kevin. "Hop to it."

Tea bit her lip, but Kyle shook his head. "I want to duel. Just go. I was able to beat Joey Wheeler. I'll be fine."

"We've got no time," snapped Kaiba. "Let Kyle deal with this fool. However, I warn you Gardner: this guy isn't going to be easy."

Before Tea could answer, Kaiba grabbed her arm and hauled her out of the room. Joey, Tristan, and Serenity followed. Yugi gave the young duelist a worried look and murmured, "Good luck, Kyle."

He left too. Kevin took a step forward and snapped, "Listen kid. I've got no interest in taking your soul. Just let me pass and you won't be hurt." He tried to shove Kyle aside, but the unfazed teenager responded with a thunderous punch across the face, throwing Kevin back.

"All right," he snarled. "If it's a duel you want…" he drew his first six cards. "It's a duel you'll get."

(Kevin: 8000, Kyle: 8000)

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Kaiba and the others cautiously walked down the steps. It was as if Marik had been planning this all along. The entire building was empty. At least for now. "We'll try to avoid dueling," said Yugi in a low voice. "Physically take out your opponent, whenever you can."

"I think you spoke to soon, Yuge," groaned Joey. They had been walking in a tight-knit formation, and were now on the eighth floor. Waiting for them with sick grins on their faces, were Rare Hunters. There duelists were active. Without even bothering to hear anyone else's opinion, Kaiba activated his Duel Disk, and said out of the corner of his mouth, "Just go."

The others didn't need to be told twice. One of the Rare Hunters sneered, "We'll get those fools after I deal with you, Kaiba."

Seto snorted. "You? Deal with me? I swear, if I don't defeat all four of you pathetic wannabes in less than four of my turns, I'll forfeit the duel." All four of his opponents were surprised, "You certainly are very cocky, Kaiba. Master Marik was right. You are a fool, even if you are a strong one. We will defeat you!"

"Spare me those clichéd, pathetic excuses for catchphrases. Let the duel begin all ready. Since I'm at a disadvantage, I think its fair that you'll start with four thousand life-points and that I get to attack on my first move."

(Rare Hunter One: 4000, Rare Hunter Two: 4000, Rare Hunter Three: 4000, Rare Hunter Four: 4000, Kaiba: 8000)

The first Rare Hunter drew nervously, and said, "I activate the Seal of Orichalcos!" Kaiba yawned as the deadly field magic card spread across the field. "Please. That thing is really getting old."

The Rare Hunter spat his contempt, and snarled, "I summon Vorse Raider (1900 + 500 2400/1200) in attack mode." The ogre appeared and flexed its muscles. Its axe/spear gleamed in the light of the corridor.

The next Rare Hunter drew. "I activate Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two." He smirked and continued, "Then I activate Monster Reborn to revive my Ultimate Obedient Fiend (3500 + 500 4000/3000)!" A gigantic red beast appeared. It was surrounded by smoke. "Even your Blue Eyes can't take out this monster, Kaiba!"

The next Rare Hunter played a little more subtle than the others. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

The fourth Rare Hunter was equally subtle, playing only one card facedown.

Kaiba drew. "I activate the Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards from my deck." The grinning pot with a goblin-like face appeared. "Next I play Advanced Ritual Art. It acts as a substitute for the ritual magic card, and instead of sacrificing monsters from my hand or field, I can send normal monsters from my deck to the graveyard. I choose to send my Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) to the graveyard, to summon my Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200)!"

The ghostly image of the massive dragon appeared and disappeared, only to be replaced by a knight clad in white armor, riding a miniature Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "Next I'll activate its effect, sacrificing it to summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon from my deck!"

All the four Rare Hunters gasped at this. The knight disappeared and the dragon to grow until it looked like a normal Blue Eyes. Seto had five cards left in his hand. "Next I play Monster Reborn to revive the Blue Eyes I sent to the graveyard with Advanced Ritual Art."

A second behemoth appeared next to the first one, and roared so loudly that even the Ultimate Obedient Fiend was taken aback. "Next I summon Kaibaman (200/700) in attack mode." A humanoid monster appeared. It had wild orange hair, and black headgear that also covered its eyes. Otherwise, it looked remarkably like Kaiba himself.

"Then I sacrifice him to summon your worst nightmare: the third Blue Eyes!" The final, massive dragon appeared next to its brothers. They were having a hard time fitting in the narrow and low corridor. They finally gave up struggling, and let their wings burst open, so that they completely destroyed the surrounding walls and ceilings. Kaiba smirked as the Rare Hunters yelped and tried to avoid the falling rubble.

The second Rare Hunter stuttered nervously, "But your dragons can't hold a candle to my Ultimate Obedient Fiend!"

"Or can they?" smirked Kaiba. "I activate Dragon's Mirror, removing all three from play to summon the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!" The three dragons dissolved into nothingness and were replaced by the three-headed monstrosity.

"I'm not done. I play my last card, the Card of Sanctity!" His four opponents groaned as he replenished his empty hand. Yet another chance for him to annihilate them. "This duel is truly over. I activate Dimension Fusion, paying two thousand life-points to revive all three Blue Eyes!"

The massive three headed beast was joined by its fusion components, who all roared at the Rare Hunters. "I'm far from done. First I play Heavy Storm, to wipe out all spells and traps on the field." The last Rare Hunter groaned as his Mirror Force was destroyed. Now all hope was lost for them.

"I equip Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon first with United We Stand!

It was over. The Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon had nearly eight thousand attack points. It began to grow in size to such an extent that its heads burst through two more floors. Its necks craned downwards so that it was in line with the duel.

I play Riryoku, halving the ATK of your fiend and adding it to one of my Blue Eyes White Dragons." The Ultimate Obedient Fiend was down to a modest 2000, while one of the dragons soared to 5000.

"Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, lead the charge and annihilate the first Rare Hunter!" The three headed dragon's attack incinerated the Vorse Raider, and knocked its owner against the wall of the Seal.

"Then I'll have my powered up Blue Eyes blow up your so called 'Ultimate' Obedient Fiend." The targeted Rare Hunter winced as the dragon's attack obliterated his monster.

"Then other dragon will attack you directly!" The man didn't even have the time to scream as he was thrown against the wall of the Seal.

Kaiba snorted. "I have one attack left. But it's really a waste of time, if you ask me. Why? Because I can simply play Surprise Attack from the Darkness, dealing the both of you a combined total of nearly sixteen thousand points of damage."

The three Blue Eyes, the Ultimate Dragon, Kaibaman, and the Paladin all appeared. They fired their respective attacks at the two helpless duelists, who screamed in agony as they were sandwiched between the wall of the Seal and oncoming attacks.

"Good riddance," muttered Kaiba as the dragons disappeared. He gave the four soulless bodies a contemptuous look, and trotted down the stairs, always prepared for the worst.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anubis gave his opponent a morbid look.

"This duel is getting extremely interesting. I set one monster facedown in defense mode, and a card facedown." The two brown-backed cards appeared, dwarfed by the titanic demon.

"Where is the bravado now?" jeered Kagemaru. In answer, Anubis silently fired a small beam of shining white energy from his hand towards his opponent. Kagemaru laughed, and Uria fired a small fireball at the oncoming attack. The two blasts vaporized each other.

"And now… I activate Uria's ability. Once per turn I can destroy one facedown magic or trap card on the field. I choose to destroy that pathetic facedown card." Anubis grunted at the demon's shriek. The mere sound of it shattered the facedown card. "SHUT UP!"

"Now, now," taunted Kagemaru. "You don't want to upset the nice demon, do you? Uria, attack his monster with Hell Inferno!" Uria fired a nimbus of hellish flames at the facedown card. Anubis' morbid laughter rung through the night sky as the card was flipped face up. "You fool… you destroyed by Gigas Fiend (600/500)… You've done it. Now you've really done it."

The fiendish beast that was destroyed was a monstrous creature. It was covered in small spikes, and looked a bit like a Velociraptor. "When Gigas Fiend is destroyed in battle, I can automatically resummon it from the graveyard the next turn, with one thousand more attack points, at the cost of a thousand life-points." The God of Death was down to a mere thirty-one hundred life-points now, while Kagemaru was still untouched.

"Screw the life-points. I've just drawn the cards to bring about your execution. Finish your pathetic little move. Your demon is finished."

Kagemaru shook his head, and ended his turn.

Anubis chuckled. "Hmm… Interesting card. I didn't expect to draw this card so soon." The Gigas Fiend reappeared with a thousand extra attack points.

"Ah well. I first activate Circles of Hell. It lets me sacrifice a monster on the field for another in my hand. However, the summoned monster gains the attack points of the sacrificed one. So I sacrifice Gigas Fiend to summon one of m personal favorites. He's a creation of mine, actually. My job as the God of Death is to make sure that people actually stay dead. Well, this fellow is the gatekeeper of Hell. Meet The End of Anubis (2500 + 1500 4000/0)!"

A demonic, hellish new beast appeared. It was about ten feet tall on its haunches. It resembled a werewolf, although it was far more terrifying. It was covered in purple, spike-like fur. It was wearing only a brown loin cloth. It had an especially mad look on its face.

"Powerful as your monster is," chuckled Kagemaru. "My beast is almost twice as strong as yours. I'm surprised a competent tactician such as yourself would make such an amateur move."

"Keep talking," barked Anubis. "I activate Soul Release, removing from play five trap cards from you graveyard, reducing Uria's ATK to a pathetic two thousand!"

Kagemaru roared in rage as Uria shrieked as well. The black diamond on its forehead glowed dully, and its ATK dropped. "Now, The End of Anubis will bring about the end of your pitiable excuse for a demon. Hell's Trap!" The horrifying beast rushed towards its opponent. It leapt onto Uria's head.

With feral tenacity that put even the devil himself to shame, it stuck a massive, clawed hand into Uria's head. The demon screeched in pain, but was silenced as Anubis' monster ripped something out of its head. It then stuck both hands in, and with a roar, energy exploded out of its hands, cauterizing the Uria's head, and blowing its body of the building.

Its massive coils hit the ground as The End of Anubis leapt off, cackling madly.

Kagemaru roared with anger that matched even Anubis'.

(Anubis: 3100: Kagemaru: 6000)

Now Anubis had the advantage in every way, with more cards in his hand that Kagemaru, plus a powerful monster on the field. There life-points however, told a different story. "Victory is imminent!" boomed the God of Death as he ended his turn.

Kagemaru wasn't sure about his next move. He drew slowly, and thought, "This doesn't exactly help the present situation… But it helps me set up for my next blow. At this point, it's all I can do."

"I set a monster in defense mode and activate Spell Absorption. I now gain five hundred life-points every time a spell card is activated."

Anubis scoffed. "Pathetic. I can beat you without spell cards, but I'm not going to bother, as a few life-points here and there won't prevent me from crushing you!"

Kagemaru was about to retort to this, but thought the better of it. The more Anubis riled him up, the more mistakes he would make. Against the God of Death, he couldn't afford to make mistakes. Not at all.

Anubis drew. "I sacrifice Sphinx Teleia (2500/3000) to activate the ritual magic card, END OF THE WORLD!" He began to laugh maniacally. The nearby cluster of buildings began to glow with dark, blue energy. Kagemaru heard people screaming in shock.

Blue flames surrounded the area in the sky. In the center of the flames, a tall monster with a black axe with a metal handle was summoned. Its arms and shoulders were covered in white flame designs, and the monster's head had metal horns sticking out of its helmet. It's eyes glowed red as it raised its axe. It slowly floated down to the field, landing with an ominous presence.

"My new monster is called Demise, King of Armageddon (2400/2000)," grinned Anubis.

Kagemaru grimaced. He had heard of this card. It was supposed to be the successor of the legendary Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End (3000/2500).

"Demise has an extra special effect, but it's not worth activating just yet. For now, I'll have Demise attack your pathetic facedown! Ragnarok Blade!" The demonic warrior screeched and lifted its axe up. With a roar, it rushed forward and brought the axe down on the facedown card. It was revealed to be, to Anubis' shocked amusement, a Winged Kuriboh (300/200).

"Surprising that a strong duelist such as yourself would use such a despicable creature in your deck," sneered Anubis, as Demise's axe cleaved through the poor fairy.

Kagemaru folded his arms and shook his head. "Anubis, Anubis…. That's your weakness."

Anubis was startled by his opponent's answer. "What do you mean? I don't really think you should be commenting on my non-existent weaknesses, especially in your condition."

Kagemaru shot back in full force. "You don't learn from defeat. I fought Jaden Yuki, and lost. I realized that his Winged Kuriboh had saved him a number of times, and was therefore a useful card. I added one to my deck. You, on the other hand, lost to Yugi Moto."

For the first time in his life, the God of Death was flustered. All he could do was stand by in shock as Kagemaru continued, "You don't realize that he was a nearly undefeatable duelist for a reason. His strategies were brilliant. I admit it. I've seen him trounce Seto Kaiba. That man duels like he was born to it. And yet, you refuse to accept them. Not learning from your loss to him."

Marik raised an eyebrow from the sidelines. Perhaps he had made a mistake with this fellow. Villains weren't supposed to give pep-talks.

"And that's exactly why I will defeat you," finished Kagemaru smugly.

"NO!!!!!" thundered Anubis. "ANUBIS WILL NEVER PERISH! NEVER!!!!!!!" His pupils disappeared, and his body began to crackle with dark energy. His mouth opened in an unearthly shriek, and he spread his arms open. He began to float off the building, and shock-waves of energy began to radiate off his body.

The shock waves nearly threw Kagemaru off the building. Patches of light began to open in the clouds. People were screaming beneath them as lightning struck from the sky, killing many. Marik was just able to hold his ground, a look off shock on his face.

Anubis continued to roar, and a cold sneer formed on Marik's face. "Poor fool… I expected better self-control. His anger always got the better of him."

An extra-powerful shock wave hit him the same time as a bolt of lightning. He would have been killed had it not been for him brandishing his Rod in one fluid motion, deflecting both towards Anubis. They didn't even scratch him.

Marik's face was now the absolute image of fury. "DAMN YOU ANUBIS! STOP THIS NOW!"

Kagemaru watched in awe and horror as the smaller man rushed towards the end of the building. "Ra!" he thundered. "Control this fool!"

He held a card aloft, and the mighty Winged Dragon of Ra appeared, floating by the side of the building. "BLAZE CANNON!"

The divine dragon wasted no time in firing a full-force attack at Anubis. The mighty golden wave of energy crashed into his chest. He finally seemed to take notice, and with a mighty heave of his arms, fired a vortex of unholy black fire right back at it.

The two attacks clashed in mid-air, and the two giants of combat struggled back and forth. "I WILL NEVER LOSE!" screamed Anubis over the noise of the battle. This broke Marik's remaining patience. "OH YES YOU WILL! EGYPTIAN GOD PHOENIX!"

A heavenly note left Ra's mouth, and it stopped its attack. It crossed its wings to block Anubis' fire, and with a roar that put even Anubis to shame, it disappeared into a fiery shape. It was Ra's most powerful form, the Egyptian God Phoenix. "DEFEAT HIM!"

The phoenix shot through the air at lightning speed, and hit Anubis full on. Ra's roar and Anubis demonic cry of despair and rage were eclipsed by the resulting explosion. Kagemaru felt sure that the Empire State Building was going to topple over. He covered his eyes to block out the dust.

When the smoke cleared, Ra was gone. Marik was standing at the edge, glaring distastefully at Anubis' unconscious form that was floating towards the ground. Nearly all buildings within a radius of two hundred feet had been destroyed.

Marik turned to Kagemaru. He was quite angry, but he still spoke in a smooth, suave, cold voice. "I'm sick and tired of this crap... I'm ready to put the final phase of my plan into action. I'll sit back and relax as all my enemies eliminate each other, and whoever faces me in the end, undoubtedly the Pharaoh or Kaiba, will fall."

"What do you mean?" asked Kagemaru tentatively.

"Oh noting," said Marik, as if he had been trying to explain a difficult concept to an enthusiastic toddler. "You did quite well against that fool, by the way. You didn't win, but he didn't either. Keep your three Legendary Demons. You're going to need them."

Kagemaru nodded in thanks, and was about to leave. Marik called out. "By the way, just drop by Dartz and tell him it's ready. Recall all troops from the New York Palace immediately."

Kagemaru left, and Marik pulled out the Winged Dragon of Ra. He was going to give his enemy a powerful weapon. But he couldn't resist. While a powerful strategist, Marik suffered from the flaw of the want to prove his power. He waved his Rod and muttered an incantation in Egyptian. The card disappeared.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm not even going to waste my time playing the Seal against you, kid," sneered Kevin, as he drew his sixth card. "A pure waste of time that's what it is." He slipped one card out of his hand, and was about to play it when a voice echoed in his mind.

"Oh?" he muttered to no one in particular.

"What the hell are you mumbling," snarled Kyle.

Kevin, surprisingly, slipped his cards into his Duel Disk. "This is your lucky day. I would have normally beat you, in an unusually unpleasant way at that. You're getting saved though. Ah well. At least you get to meet your stupid sister one last time before it ends."

With a chuckle, he walked towards the window. He pushed it open. Kyle moved to stop him, but had already clambered over the sill. Hanging on to the sill with one hand, he shouted, "Marik's gift to Yugi Moto." He threw a card over to Kyle with his free hand.

Kyle caught it and was shocked to see what it was. He looked back just in time to see Kevin's disappeared head calling out, "He invites you to the Empire State Building. There the Tournament of Shadows will commence."

**This chapter marks the beginning of what is going to be a very action-packed end. There's still about twelve to fifteen chapters left, so there's no need to worry. I had a great birthday, and finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in twelve hours. I'm even considering doing a HP fic.**

**REVIEW! PLEASE!**


	27. Enter the Shadows, Part 3

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: The Tournament of Shadows

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Glad you liked it. If you liked **_**that**_** one, you're definitely going to like the two in this chapter. Prepare for some serious action. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. Btw, you may play zombies, but dragons pwn!**

**Princess Yunariana: Thanks for the review.**

**Shadowcat: Keep reviewing, bub. Keep reviewing.**

"I don't get it," said Joey for the twentieth time. "Why da' hell would he give ya' da' Winged Dragon of Ra?"

"I agree," said Kaiba quietly. "He's handing you your most powerful weapon. Deranged though he is, he's not stupid."

Yugi didn't answer, but stared hard at the Winged Dragon of Ra card. They were waiting in the lobby of their empty hotel. "You're right. Marik is deranged, but he's not stupid. Hell, he's a genius. But he has one flaw. He's too confident of himself. He wants to show the world that he can defeat even the three Egyptian God cards. In his psychotic mind, if he defeats me with the three Gods, then no one will ever rise up against him by trying to unite them."

Everyone was silent. "So are we going to the Empire State Building?" asked Tea quietly. Everyone was looking at Yugi. There was a flash of light, and the confident, angry face of Yami appeared. "We'll leave in one hour. Everyone, prepare your decks. Even those of you who aren't good duelists. You're going to need it."

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Away in Marik's private chamber, two of our favorite villains were having a chat. "Are you sure this is going to work?" said Dartz quietly. "Definitely," answered Marik, bored.

"In that case…." smirked Dartz. "I'm sure you won't mind if I employ that plan for myself!" With a sudden flourish, a Chaos Duel Disk appeared on his arm, and he sneered, "Activate the Seal of Orichalcos!"

"What the-…" gasped Marik as the Seal appeared beneath their feet. "Explain yourself!"

"You poor, poor fool," sneered Dartz. "Do you really think you were in charge all along? You think I would have stepped aside and let you use your pathetic Dark Gods to demolish the Pharaoh, when I could just as easily take them from you and resurrect the Leviathan?"

Marik looked at him in an odd manner for a minute or two. Then a vicious snarl of rage formed on his face. "You… you little fool! NO ONE DOUBLE-CROSSES ME! I AM GOING TO MAKE THIS THE MOST PAINFUL DUEL YOU HAVE EVER PARTICIPATED IN!"

"Then what the hell are you waiting for?" smirked Dartz.

(Dartz: 8000, Marik: 8000)

"I believe that as the challenger, I deserve the first move," drawled Dartz. "I summon Orichalcos Blood Archer (2000 + 500 2500/0) in attack mode." A tall man appeared, dressed in blood-red robes appeared. He had a sadistic grin on his face, and his mad eyes reflected the hell he was living in. He held a crossbow in one hand, and a quiver of arrows was swung across his shoulders.

"You think that pathetic fool scares me? Then you're wrong!" roared Marik.

"Next I set one card facedown and end my turn." Dartz flourished his arm in mock respect.

Marik drew savagely. "I summon Gene Warped Warwolf (2000/100)!" A massive wolf appeared. It was on two legs, and had blazing red eyes. It was covered in heavy armor. "Next I activate Graceful Charity." He drew three cards, and discarded two. "One of my discarded cards was Repayment of Losses, which lets me draw another card."

Marik's hand size shot up to seven. "Finally, I play Premature Burial, to special summon my discarded Spiral Serpent (2900/2900)!" Suddenly, water burst out of the ground in huge geysers and a HUGE beast rose up, snarling with a vengeful tone. It was a big blue serpent with a terrible face and long mouth, which had very sharp teeth and a snakelike tongue. Its four fins fluttered wildly from its underside, and a long crystal-clear tail slithered on the ground right near Marik's feet.

"Impressive," mused Dartz.

"Just wait till he attacks. Spiral Serpent, attack with Death Cyclone!" The titanic beast screeched and swung its tail in an arc. This threw up waves of water. Wings began to spin around the room. Air and water hit the archer at the same time, and he was obliterated.

"Then I'll have Gene Warped Warwolf attack you directly!" The massive beast rushed forward and attempted to slash Dartz across the chest. Suddenly, it was blocked by what looked like the corpse of Dartz's Orichalcos Blood Archer. It fired a splintered arrow into the warwolf's chest. It howled in pain, but continued its charge, bypassing the archer and slashing Dartz's chest. He was, however, unphased. He stood there with a grin on his face, and life-points still at 7600.

"When Orichalcos Blood Archer is destroyed, I can reduce the ATK of one monster on your field by my archer's attack till the end of the turn. Too bad your puppy also has two thousand attack points, as he's currently at 0. Which means I'm safe."

Marik kept his decorum, and ended his turn with a grunt.

Dartz drew. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Marik drew recklessly. "I sacrifice Gene-Warped Warwolf for my Frostsaurus (2600/1700)!" All at once, an icy-cold wind began to blow across the field...and snow began to fall as rapidly as a blizzard storm. Then, all the snow began to blow towards one specific spot on the field, slowly colliding into one another and forming a figure that resembled the shape of a brontosaurus.

Fifteen seconds later, the snow finished building itself, and the shadow of a brontosaurus could be seen from within the icy figure that was just created. It had menacing-looking red eyes, and an extremely cold body from which snow and icy wind blew off of with ease.

"An extremely mismatched deck," scoffed Dartz. "Even by your standards."

"Wait for it," was all Marik would say. "Macho comments will only get you so much, Dartz. You attempted to betray me, and I'm going to see payment. In blood."

"Macho comments?" scoffed Dartz. "You're someone to talk about that. Up until now you haven't done a thing except summon those pathetic normal monsters. I don't see the point."

"Oh you'll see the point. You'll definitely see the point," said Marik darkly. "Frostsaurus, attack his pathetic facedown monster with Jurassic Blizzard Wave!" The dinosaur screeched, and stamped down on the ground. Waves of ice and chilling winds were swept up from the ground, the deadly sauropod rushed forward. With a single step, it destroyed the facedown card. "Now, Spiral Serpent, attack him directly, and do some real damage!"

The massive reptile screeched and swung its tail in an arc. Air and water sped towards Dartz at the same time, but he smirked, and said, "Here comes a real classic. I activate Mirror Knight Calling!" Marik barely had time to swear, before four knights appeared on Dartz's field. They were all dressed in classic European armor, and wielded heavy swords and shields. Oddly enough, there armor was made completely of glass.

The Spiral Serpent's attack hit the glass shield of one of the knights, and it was reflected off. "What the hell?" gasped Marik. Light resonated of each knight. "Mirror Knight Calling is a powerful, continuous trap card. It allows me to summon four Mirror Knight tokens (0 + 500 500/0) to the field, instantly. They cannot be destroyed as long as Mirror Knight Calling is on the field."

"Impressive," mused Marik. Then, each knight raised its head, to reveal the face behind the helmet. To Marik's shock, the four Mirror Knights were none other than Yami, Bakura, Kaiba and Wheeler.

Dartz smirked at his opponents shock. The last time he used these cards had been against the Pharaoh himself. Being a light-hearted fool, who was emotionally attached to a number of people, he was better off taunting him with faces that he couldn't bare to hurt. But this fellow was a scumbag. Dartz was better of taunting him with his enemies. The people he would love to crush would be the ones that would defeat him.

"It'll be fun crushing them now," drawled Marik, trying to save face. "It'll be a taste of what will happen to them when I actually find them, which will also be nothing compared to your fate."

Dartz chuckled at this. "Seeing as you can't do a bloody thing against my invincible warriors, you'd better end." The Seal of Orichalcos glowed brightly, as Marik grudgingly submitted to the suggestion. After all, he would need more than brute force to combat the intricacies of the deadly Mirror Knights.

"My, my," chuckled Dartz. "Time is running short. The Pharaoh should be defeated soon enough. Unfortunately, that will only come after you are dead. I summon Orichalcos Asguard Dragon (1400 + 500 1900/1000)!" A massive, ancient-looking dragon appeared. It was completely golden in color, and long claws extended from each paw. Its eyes glowed red as the Seal appeared on its forehead. "Next I'll switch my Mirror Knights to attack mode!"

Marik snorted. "Now you've really lost it. Four monster with five hundred attack points each? They may be immune to destruction, but you're actually giving me targets, you fool." Dartz ignored him. "Mirror Knight Number One. Attack his Spiral Serpent!"

The Mirror Knight that represented Yami nodded, and rushed towards the serpent. Marik raised an eyebrow as it attempted to slash its opponent in half. The serpent easily weathered the blow. But suddenly, the knight's attack points shot up to 2900! It slashed again, and a line of blood appeared on its torso as it screeched in pain. The knight's shield shattered, and the serpent was destroyed.

"My knight has the same number of attack points as its target," informed Dartz. "And because of its immunity to destruction by battle, they are practically undefeatable. Now, Mirror Knight Two, attack his dinosaur!" Marik winced as his second monster was destroyed. "The other two both have five hundred attack-points, so I'll have them attack you directly."

Marik grunted as the two monsters slashed him across the chest. He was thrown back by a bit, but managed to take it. Like the previous two, both of their shield's shattered. "Finally, I'll have my Orichalcos Asguard Dragon attack you with Paradise Flame!" Marik raised his hands to block the flux of black flames that left the dragon's maw.

"I'll end my turn, seeing as you're at a serious disadvantage."

(Marik: 4300, Dartz: 7600)

Marik knew Dartz was right. He had over two thousand life-points more than him, plus four indestructible monsters. On a brighter note, he now had a full hand of six cards.

"You poor fool…. I drew a card to end you miracle combo. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy Mirror Knight Calling." Dartz scoffed. "No matter, you fool. These effects will still last for one more use. You cannot defeat me." Marik shrugged. "I summon Drillago (1600/1100)!" A humanoid machine appeared. It was rusty-gray in color, with drills instead of limbs. It buzzed when it saw the Mirror Knights. There shields had reformed, and the machine was reflected in one of the shields.

"When you have a face-up monster on the field, I can attack you directly with Drillago. Go, Torture Spear Burst!" The machine disappeared into the ground, and suddenly burst out in front of Dartz. Its drill caught him in the chest. He grunted, but with a burst of light from the Orichalcos stone around his neck, it disappeared. "Next I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

(Marik: 4300, Dartz: 6000)

Dartz drew. "I set a monster in defense mode, and then I'll attack your Drillago with Mirror Knight Number Three." The Mirror Knight that was Kaiba nodded, and rushed towards its opponent. Before it could attack, Marik smirked. "I activate Mirror Force, to destroy all face-up attack position monsters on your field." "I'm afraid I can't allow that," said Dartz lightly, as if they were discussing the matter over drinks.

"Activate quick-play spell card, Orichalcos Doomed Negation. By sacrificing a monster, I can negate your Mirror Force." The Asguard Dragon disappeared, leaving behind a noxious, black gas, which slammed into the Seal. It glowed, and the mirror that had appeared looked ready to crack. "Not so fast," countered Marik. "I activate Magic Jammer, discarding my Blade Knight (1600/1000) to negate your pathetic card!" Dartz snarled as the Seal stopped glowing.

Mirror Knight Kaiba's sword hit the mirror, which threw it backwards, towards it comrades. Its armor began to glow, and by the time it hit Dartz's side of the field, it exploded, destroying all four Mirror Knights. Dartz roared in rage. He had just lost a massive edge in the duel. Marik shook his head in amusement, regaining his arrogance.

"Since I can't do anything for the moment, I end my turn."

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Seto knew that his deck needed a serious revamp. He would probably base it more or less on his Blue Eyes White Dragons for now. After all, it was a complete waste to add those extra beast-warriors and machines. On second thoughts, he thought about keeping his XYZ monsters.

Suddenly, there was an evil laugh that echoed through his room. Seto froze. He would know that laugh anywhere, at anytime. "Anubis," he said quietly. Black mist trickled in from the window. It began to accumulate at one point, and formed a humanoid figure. Anubis' blond hair waved breezily across his shoulders, and a Duel Disk that actually looked alive hovered over his wrist. The Pyramid of Light dangled around his neck.

While Seto knew that Anubis was alive and on Marik's side, he still hadn't been expecting something like this. "Long time, no see, Seto Kaiba," greeted the demonic duelist. Seto didn't answer. "Feeling uneasy with me in the room, Kaiba?"

Seto had had enough, and smirked back, "Queasy, Anubis. Queasy." The demon's face darkened. "Still haven't lost the insolent touch have you, eh? Ah well. Be a sport and stand in one place so that I can kill you easily. After all, Marik could then be saved the trouble of wasting time with the pathetic Pharaoh."

"Yugi's fight is with Marik," spat Seto and activated his Duel Disk. "Neither of them have forgotten Battle City. On the other hand, I have a debt to collect from you. I'm going to save Yugi the bother of beating you again. He doesn't need to do it twice. I, on the other hand, haven't had my turn. Maybe we'll let Wheeler have a try the next time. Oh wait," spat Kaiba. "There isn't going to be a next time."

"Hmmm…. You are extremely confident, young Kaiba. I guess I could warm up with you. But I think that this silly room is too small a place. I have a better idea. How about…. the Shadow Realm?"

"More smoke and mirrors?" jeered Kaiba as darkness spouted out of the Pyramid of Light. It engulfed the entire room, and Seto was quite sure it has broken the barriers of the walls, floor and ceiling. But hell, he didn't care. All he cared about was defeating the arrogant freak who was standing there, so smug and full of himself.

"Let's duel!"

(Anubis: 8000, Kaiba: 8000)

"I'll start by summoning my Phoenix Demon- Suzaku Knight (1700/1200)!" chuckled Anubis. A demonic warrior appeared, encased in flaming red and coal-black armor. His blood-red eyes shown from within his helmet, and he pulled out a blazing sword. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Seto drew. He was going to hit Anubis hard and fast. "I first summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1500)!" A blue- and gold-plated machine with a humanoid upper torso balanced on a spiked ball appeared on the field. Twin, long cannons extended from hatches in the robot's shoulders.

"Next I play Union Rush. I can pay a thousand life-points to summon a Union monster from my deck if there is one already on my field. Provided, they do not fuse to form the specific monster that is formed from the fusion of just these two. Meet my Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300)." Z-Metal Tank was a yellow machine that consisted mostly of two set of tank treads between which was a simple rectangle to hold the treads together. From the front of this rectangle extended a baseball-sized eye on a stalk.

At Anubis' scoff, Kaiba retorted, "I don't intend to fuse these monsters. Instead, I finally play Soul Rope, paying another one thousand life-points, which lets each of us summon a level four monster from our decks. I summon Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600)." A red, metallic dragon appeared and gave a mechanical roar. "You're finished. I'm about to summon one of my most powerful monsters. I activate the Union ability of my three monsters, to summon the XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!" The X-Head Cannon beeped and landed on the dragon's back. Then a slot opened in the tank, and with a mechanical screech, the dragon folded its legs and fitted itself into that area.

"It's just a pathetic scrap heap. What a waste of resources, for only twenty-eight hundred attack points," scoffed Anubis at the new arrival.

"It seems to me that my monster does not impress you. But with the combo I'm about to pull off, you're really screwed. I play Lament of Destruction. It can only be activated if I've summoned two or more Union monsters this turn. I can now pay seven hundred life-points per monster to special summon all copies of that monster from my deck, hand, removed from play pile, or graveyard. So welcome back X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank from the graveyard." The three mechanical monsters appeared next to their fusion.

"So what? You've simply summoned three weaklings. Not much of a difference."

"Oh, it makes a real difference. I equip XYZ-Dragon Cannon with United We Stand, to boost its ATK to six thousand!" Anubis raised an eyebrow as the machine crackled with energy. "Impressive."

"I activate XYZ Dragon Cannon's ability. By discarding the remaining card in my hand, I can destroy your pathetic Phoenix Demon!" Five lasers fired from the Y's mouth and X's and Z's cannons. The lasers sliced through the knight, destroying it.

"And now this duel will end before it has properly started. XYZ-Dragon Cannon, attack directly!"

As the five cannons fired in a burst of white, yellow, and blue, Anubis laughed. "I activate my facedown card, Miraculous Protection. It negates all damage done to me this turn. I can also discard a card to increase my life-points by half the attack points of the strongest monster on the field." Kaiba snarled. All his efforts had been wasted.

"However, the card I discarded was Repayment of Losses. When discarded, I can automatically draw a card from my deck." Anubis scoffed, as Kaiba did so. He had a disadvantage of over six thousand life-points, with only one card in his hand. But on the other hand, he had a powerful field. "I end my turn."

(Anubis: 11,000, Kaiba: 4900)

Anubis drew. "I summon Underworld Knight (2000/0) in attack mode." The horrible knight appeared; his face was hidden by a large, black helmet. He sat on a black horse, which was armored as well. His eyes shone red. In one hand he hefted up a lance. The other clutched a daemon-blade. "Next I activate Call of the Devil. When I have a fiend on the field, I can special summon a DARK of the same level or lower from my hand. Welcome to the field Surtr, the Hellfire Giant (1900/900)!"

The new arrival was roughly fifteen feet tall, and seemed to be made completely of fire. He carried a large club. His face burned especially bright. "I see. What good does this fool do? I know he's called the giant of fire, but he seems to have rather let it get to his head, if you know what I mean."

"Wait and watch, worm. Wait and watch. I activate Surtr's effect. By sacrificing a fiend from my field and discarding a card from my hand, I can automatically summon Ymir, the Frost Giant Emperor (2200/200), to the field in attack mode." The Underworld Knight disappeared, and Anubis flicked a card into his graveyard. A new giant phased out of thin air. He was about as tall as Surtr, but in sharp contrast to him, was made completely of ice.

His beard came halfway down to his chest, and seemed to be made of icicles. It almost made Kaiba laugh, until the giant let out a rumbling roar and heaved up a massive battle-axe. "No matter. Both your monsters are far too weak to take out my XYZ-Dragon Cannon, even without power-ups."

"I agree," chuckled Anubis, morbidly. "But you see, Kaiba, you yourself abide by the phrase, 'United We Stand, Divided We Fall'. The fact that you played that card is more than adequate proof. But anyway, I now play one of my most powerful magic cards, Sword of Thor. By activating this, I can combine Ymir and his brother Surtr, to summon Goliath, Giant of Apocalypse (?/?). To do this, I must give up half my life-points!"

The two brothers roared and crossed their weapons. Arcane words rolled from their hellish tongues, and a grim smile spread across Anubis' face as they began to disappear. There was a howl of indescribable rage, and a shadowy black figure rose up from the shadows.

Kaiba took an uneasy step back, as a hellish giant revealed itself. It was about the size of a three storey building, and looked like a demon in every sense of the word. It was dressed in a rough robe, with badly crafted metal armor. Horns twisted from underneath its helmet, and its grizzly features looked like they had been carved by someone who had no idea what a humanoid's face was meant to look like. And it seemed like that person had used his _foot_.

In his hand, however, he carried a magnificent sword. It was longer than four, extremely tall men put together, and the massive rubies in its handle glowed, deep within the shadows. "Most fools know nothing of the ancient battles that the Norse gods waged against each other," rumbled Anubis.

"Nothing to the Egyptian battles, of course, but nasty nonetheless. I even visited one of the battles, and witnessed Thor, son of Odin, fighting both Ymir and Surtr at the same time. I used my dark magic to create this monstrosity. Oh yes, Goliath is my creation," he smirked.

"And now for his effect. Goliath possesses a simple, yet devastating power. He gains the attack points of every DARK monster in my graveyard." Kaiba snarled as Goliath's attack power climbed up to a massive sixty-one hundred; _just_ edging out his XYZ-Dragon Cannon. "Now, Goliath, attack with the Sword of Thor!"

Goliath roared and raised his massive sword clumsily. Darkness swirled around it, and he swung it once, in a wide arc. The shock-wave collided with the machine, and it was completely shattered. Kaiba snarled at this. His life-points dipped to 4800, but that didn't matter. He had just lost a powerful monster.

"Impressive," he mused. "I'll admit it," he continued as Anubis ended his turn with a morbid laugh. "My machines aren't much against your Norse demons. But I possess monsters that make them look weak. You know what I speak of."

"I do," agreed Anubis. "But you have only two cards in your hand. The only way to defeat Goliath is to unleash your true power. But with your current limitations, my monster is invincible." Kaiba's face hardened. "Fool. I activate the Card of Sanctity, increasing my options."

Both duelists filled their hands. "Hmm…. I sacrifice the currently useless Y-Dragon Head, as well as the Z-Metal Tank to summon the most powerful normal monster in the game. Meet your excecutioner, the Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

In place of the machines was a massive white dragon. It had metallic scales, and shining blue eyes. "Hmm… its been a while since I've faced a monster of the Blue Eyes' caliber," smirked Anubis. "But your lizard has less than half Goliath's attack points. "Just wait for it," shot back Kaiba.

"I activate Dragon's Ultimate Sanctuary, discarding another Repayment of Losses, and Limiter Removal, to boost my dragon's ATK to 5000!" "Not enough," pointed out Anubis. "Maybe not yet. But I can now activate Gift of the Martyr, sacrificing my cannon, to boost my dragon's ATK by its attack points, setting it at a massive sixty-eight hundred!"

Anubis was slightly impressed by this, and acknowledged it with a curt nod. "Blue Eyes, attack and end this with White Lightning!"

**Sorry for the extended wait. I've been losing my way with this story for a while, but I hope I'm back on track now. It seems a bit repetitive, the classic good vs. evil thing, but I'm pushing myself onwards for the sequel. Yes, there is going to be a sequel, in which many unanswered questions will be answered. In fact, it could be a part of a four part series.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll put the original cards in the next chapter, which will hopefully be at least twice as long as this tiny thing, and contain these two, epic clashes. In fact, here's a sneak preview:**

"_You fool Dartz," laughed Marik. "You betrayed me. I told you that I would take payment in blood. I keep my word."_

_Dartz ignored him, and looked confidently at the Orichalcos Demon Dragon. "I sacrifice my three monsters, to summon the __**Ragnarok Dragon**__."_

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!**


	28. Ragnarok Dragon

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: Ragnarok Dragon

**I'm back with a chapter over eight thousand words! Enjoy.**

**Shadowcat: Thanks a lot. I hope you continue enjoying my story.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Keep it up with the ideas, buddy. Sorry, I don't have the time to write effects and stats for each and every card. If there's any you'd like in particular, PM me.**

Dartz growled at his loss. Losing the Mirror Knights wasn't good. After all, the psychological advantage that they gave him was tremendous. But then again, when he was dueling a man like Marik, it was better to be prepared for anything.

Marik drew. His voice was heavy with sarcasm as his words echoed throughout the large room. "You fool. You're about to see why I'm playing normal monsters. I activate the special ritual magic card, Rise of the Ancients. It's really got a different mechanic from normal ritual magic cards. Instead of sacrificing cards from my hand and field, I sacrifice the required eight stars worth of monsters from my deck. What's more, those monsters _have _to be normal monsters."

Dartz raised an eyebrow as Marik sent his two normal monsters from his deck to the graveyard. They were both Vorse Raiders (1900/1200). Ironically, Vorse Raider was Kaiba's signature four-star monster. "Rise of the Ancients allows me to summon my almighty Ancient Emperor Paladin (0/0)!"

Silvery images of the ogres appeared. They groaned in pain as there life-forces were extinguished by an invisible force. The ground began to shake, and Dartz was faintly amused by the cracks that had appeared beneath the Seal. "Your friend really knows how to make an entrance."

The new monster was _huge. _It was a massive warrior, about twenty feet tall. He was dressed in arcane armor, and had a long, white beard coming down to his belly. His armor and helmet were both green and golden, and set into his wrinkled sin were two, hate-filled eyes. A cape flopped down across his back, and in one hand he held a sword, and the other clasped a staff.

"I see. Quite a waste, if I may say so," smirked Dartz. "It has zero attack points."

"For now, perhaps. I have yet activate its ability. I must pay a thousand life-points to activate this effect. You see, my mighty emperor gains the attack and defense points of every normal monster in my removed from play pile!"

Dartz smirked. "Unfortunately, that effect is useless. Last time I checked, there were five normal monsters in your graveyard, but none in your de-…" He stopped in shock as he saw Marik holding up a magic card. "Soul Release is a neat little card that I'm sure you are familiar with. It lets me remove from play five cards from either of our graveyards. Obviously, I simply choose my five normal monsters. Frostosaurus, Gene-Warped Warwolf, Spiral Serpent, and my two Vorse Raiders."

The Ancient Emperor Paladin growled, and raised his staff. Two blobs of mist appeared from the top of the staff. One was bluish white, and the other was dark purple. The blobs reformed, shockingly, into very lose outlines of the Blue Eyes White Dragon and the Dark Magician.

"The two classic beasts of Duel Monsters," smirked Marik. "They're so ancient, that they are the two icons of the game, as I'm sure you know." The two mist-like monsters glowed and shrieked. Five orbs of light flew out of Marik's removed from play slot. The dragon and mage were absorbed by the paladin, as were the four orbs.

Dartz raised an eyebrow. "Impressive." Ancient Emperor Paladin (11300/7100), was now far stronger than any monster really needed to be. "A bit too modest, coming from your position. After all, you have only six thousand life-points left, and no cards facedown. On the other hand, my paladin has the capacity to take down a Megamorphed Five God Dragon without breaking a sweat."

Dartz ignored him, and eyed his hand fervently. "Ancient Emperor Paladin, attack directly and end this fool's little game of deception."

The massive monster raised its staff, and a glowing orb of black fire appeared over it. He gave a long, drawn-out groan, which made Dartz chuckle, and fired it directly at Dartz. Even as it sped towards him, he raised a hand from his hand. "You fool! Do you honestly think I'd be defeated by that wizened old freak? I activate the quick-play magic card, Orichalcos Eternal Emperor! It reduces all damage done to me this turn to zero."

Marik snarled in rage, as a mirror image of Dartz himself appeared on the field. However, he was dressed in battle-armor, and held a sword and shield. There was a fierce and determined expression on his face, and the Orichalcos symbol was glowing brightly in his face. He held up the shield, and the orb of black fire bounced off. Dartz smirked and nodded at his counterpart appreciatively. He disappeared.

Marik was besides himself with anger. "I swear… this will be the last time you cross me in this duel!"

Dartz ignored him, and instead pointed out, "Now you have only one card in your hand. You cannot hope to compete with my skill. I nearly defeated the Pharaoh during our duel. You, on the other hand, lost."

Marik shook his head. "Poor fool… I assume you suffer from short term memory loss. I utterly crushed the Pharaoh, just a few days ago. And since you're trying to patronize me about hand management, I'll show you that I far surpass anything you can throw at me. I activate the Card of Sanctity, replenishing my resources."

Dartz smirked. "You've helped me tremendously, as well."

Marik ignored this, and ended his turn. Dartz drew. "Hmm… I summon Orichalcos Black Centaur (1800 + 500 2300/1000) in attack mode!" A hideous black centaur appeared. It had a large sword and howled at Marik. "Its effect allows me to destroy a magic or trap card, but seeing as you have none, it's next to useless at the moment. However, it certainly helps in my strategy. I activate Orichalcos Triple Summon! It can only be activated if I have an Orichalcos monster that is level four or lower, on the field. I can pay a thousand life-points to summon the other to copies from my deck. Say hello to my other two Orichalcos Black Centaurs (1800 + 500 2300/1000)!"

The two centaurs appeared next to their brother. Marik smirked. "I don't think a card that broken can even exist. There _must_ be some sort of side-effect." "There is. They cannot attack. Nor can they be sacrificed."

Marik laughed out loud. "Basically, they're sitting targets for my Ancient Emperor Paladin."

Dartz ignored this, and set a facedown card. "That ends my turn."

(Dartz: 5000, Marik: 4300)

Marik drew, and recklessly roared, "Destroy his pathetic black centaur and win me this duel, Ancient Emperor Paladin!" Dartz swiftly countered. "I activate my facedown trap card, Threatening Roar, which prevents your paladin from attacking my centaur!" Before Marik's monster could raise its staff, it was stopped by an invisible force. Marik hid his seething fury with a shrug, and taunted, "You're only delaying the inevitable. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Dartz sighed patronizingly. "Still hiding behind that bravado? Very well, I will show you my true power." He snapped a card of the top of his deck, and fervent and creepy grin spread across his face. "Marik Ishtar…. Time for you to face a power that is only surpassed by the strongest Egyptian mages when Shadow Magic was at its height. I sacrifice to of my Black Centaurs to summon this monster facedown in defense mode. Then I switch my last centaur to defense mode as well."

The two hybrids disappeared, and were replaced by a facedown card. The last centaur crossed his arms, and knelt down. "I end my turn. Make your move, if you dare. I've just sealed your fate."

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Anubis grimaced as the Blue Eyes' attack annihilated Goliath. The demonic giant let out a fleeting roar before it was consumed by the blue wave of energy. "Quite commendable, Kaiba. Quite commendable. Defeating Goliath is no easy feat. Yet you crushed it on its second term. Yes, you have proved yourself to be an excellent duelist time and time again. Its no wonder that you rank number two in the world!"

Kaiba ignored Anubis' meaningless banter. They were all distractions: attempts to throw his mind of course.

"In fact, Kaiba, I have a bit of a proposition for you." Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Proposition?"

"Yes. I'd like you to envision something. I am Anubis, God of Death, the most powerful force in the Universe." Kaiba snorted at this. "You, Kaiba, are extremely powerful as well. But time and time again you have lost to one man: the Pharaoh!"

Kaiba began to realize where this was going as Anubis continued, "Yami has been my nemesis for five thousand years as well. Think about it: you want to crush him. I want to crush him. Together, he doesn't stand a chance."

Seto swore. "You can take your proposition and shove it up your-…." Anubis held up a hand for silence. "You do not know this Kaiba, in your youth and ignorance. But I was the servant of your father, Aknadin. No doubt, he was a vile man himself. Even by Marik's standards, a real scumbag. But honestly, far too simplistic. I overthrew him, and forged the artifact you see around my neck." He gestured to the pyramid of light.

"But before all this, Aknadin knew of your many defeats at the hands of the Pharaoh. You commanded the strength of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. On the other hand, the pathetic Pharaoh wielded his miserable Dark Magician. Was it fair that you continued to lose to him? No, definitely not. Seto, the King of Light, was destined to eventually defeat Yami, the King of Darkness. And Anubis, Kind of Destruction, was destined to aid him."

Seto spat his contempt, and was about to utter a vile insult when he was once again cut off by Anubis. "Think about it Kaiba. The two of us are destined to rule this realm. We have been destined to do so for five thousand years, since your first defeat at Yami's hands. Together, we will crush not only the Pharaoh, but all other opponents as well. Marik, Dartz and this fool Kagemaru. Great civilizations will be the merest of bubbles in your hand!"

Suddenly, the Pyramid of Light glowed, and Kaiba felt the darkness shudder around him. There was a flash of light, and Kaiba found himself watching rapidly changing scenes. The first one showed him standing over Yami's corpse, a scornful and evil laugh marring his face. It quickly phased out of his vision, and was replaced by a scene in which Anubis' glowing Pyramid of Light fired a blast of light at a barely standing Kagemaru, atomizing him. Kaiba then saw himself and Anubis engaging Dartz and Marik in a double duel. They finally won with a double attack from Thenien the Great Sphinx and the Blue Eyes Shining Dragon.

The final image showed the two of them standing atop the Empire State Building. It was, however, dark and twisted. Kaiba to, looked different. His eyes were glowing red, and his hair was a bizarre white in color. He had a crazed grin on his face. Anubis stood beside him, laughing uproariously. Most shockingly, Kaiba held the Millennium Rod in his right hand. The sky behind them was blood red.

The Shadow Realm returned to normal. Anubis spoke in a low voice. "Now do you see, Seto Kaiba, that your destiny has been predetermined? Screw destiny. Think of the oppurunities. After defeating our primary rivals, there wouldn't be an army on Earth that could stop us. Why stop there? There are many realms and planes of existence that reside beyond this one, just begging to be ruled. We would command the most fearsome and powerful beings and warriors into battle! Nothing would be out of our grasp! What do you think, Kaiba? Will you join me?"

"You know what I think?" sneered Kaiba, in a voice that sent chills down even Anubis' spine. It was as if all emotion had been wiped out of Kaiba's mind.

"I think you should burn in hell….."

It was all that needed to be said. The time for words, was over. Anubis let out a roar of pure fury. "Impudent brat, I will destroy you! Make your pathetic move so I can end this."

Kaiba smirked, and set a card facedown. "I end my turn."

Anubis drew. He had only two cards in his hand, but then again, it didn't matter. Not to a duelist of his caliber. "Hmm…. Interesting card. I set a monster in defense mode, as well as a card facedown. That ends my turn.

(Anubis: 4800, Kaiba: 4800)

The two duelists were now even in terms of life-points. But card advantage and field presence were a completely different story.

Kaiba drew and sneered. "I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode!" A sapphire armored dragon appeared on Kaiba's field. It had red eyes. It roared, trying the impress the Blue-Eyes that had nearly four times its ATK, but was silenced by a grunt. "Attack with Ruby Burst!" The dragon fired a ball of red energy at the facedown card.

Anubis chuckled. "My facedown was Loki, the Ultimate Trickster (1500/1500)!" The card flipped up to reveal an impish looking warrior, who was dressed in a green bodysuit, with a yellow belt. Two horns stuck out of his head, and his long nose hung out from his face as if it was about to fall off. "Loki was the god of tricksters in Norse mythology. You see, when he's attacked, I get to activate neat special ability."

Anubis took out his deck, and pulled three cards out of it. He held them up, and they all glowed. Holograms of the three brown backed cards appeared next to Loki. "I must first select three cards from my deck. All three are monsters, and there should be one of each tribute level. Depending on which one you choose, your attack will go through. If you choose the lowest level, your attacks will do double normal damage this turn. If you choose the middle level, we both draw cards equal to the level of the attacking monster, and the attack continues on as normal. And if you choose the highest level monster, your attack is negated, and I gain life-points the attack points of your strongest monster."

Kaiba was about to pick a random card, when Loki gave an irritating grin, and reached over to jumble up the cards. Kaiba snorted. "I choose the card on the left."

The card flipped over to reveal the image of a grotesque zombie. "You chose my Ryu Kokki (2400/2000). It's a level six, which means we both get to draw four cards." Kaiba nodded appreciatively, and snapped the top four cards of his deck. The Luster Dragon's Ruby Blast continued on, but suddenly, Loki snapped his fingers, and a massive, black wolf jumped out of nowhere and roared at the Luster Dragon. The dragon shuddered, and stopped its attack. Even the Blue Eyes seemed impressed.

"Explain this!" spat Kaiba angrily. "There's a reason Loki is known as the god of tricksters," retorted Anubis. "I activated the quick-play spell, Circus Freak from my hand. Yes, amusing name," acknowledged Anubis at Kaiba's raised eyebrow. "The demon wolf, Fenrir, was meant to be the offspring of Loki. Upon activation of Circus Freak, he will protect his father, and Loki cannot be destroyed in battle this turn. Bad luck, you spoiled brat."

Kaiba shrugged it off. "A trifling inconvenience. I will beat you soon enough."

"We'll see. But now the second part of Loki's effect activates. I must divide the level of the monster you selected by two, rounded off to the higher result, and add that number of counters to Loki." Three glowing lights appeared above Loki, who grinned impishly and made a rude gesture in Kaiba's direction.

"End turn," grunted the CEO.

Anubis drew, and smirked to himself. "Hmm… I'll just set this card and end my turn."

Kaiba scoffed. "Feeble as always. Its time for this to end. Luster Dragon, attack his monster now!" Anubis grinned as the Luster Dragon's attack continued on towards Loki, who shrieked. The three cards appeared again. Seto snorted in disgust. "I pick the middle card."

Anubis roared in laughter as the card turned around. "You've done it… now you've really done it! You chose my level ten Fallen Angel Zharrgast- Envoy of Hell (4000/0)!" The card depicting a hellish looking warrior glowed. "Now I gain a neat sixty-eight hundred life-points, and Loki gains five more counters. What's more, your attacks are negated!"

Kaiba snarled as Anubis' life-points shot up to a huge 11600. There were now eight glowing orbs above Loki. "I…. end my turn with a facedown card."

Anubis drew with a grin. "Perfect…. I activate the magic card, Wicked Bonus! I can remove two DARK monsters in my deck from play, to add two counters to Loki. He now has a total of ten counters." A dark grin spread across the God of Death's face.

"I may now activate Loki's special ability. A very deadly ability, which also comes with a heavy cost. But its worth it. Loki's ability allows me to sacrifice him, along with all his counters, to summon a monster from my deck, whose level is equal to or less than the number of counters of Loki. I must pay a thousand life-points per level." His life-points suddenly dropped to a mere 1600.

Kaiba gasped. "You're summoning a level ten monster?!"

Anubis nodded patronizingly. "Now do you realize how hopeless it is for you?" he smirked as Loki began to glow. The trickster raised his hands above his head, and absorbed every one of the floating orbs. He disappeared; an irritating grin permanently plastered across his face. The ground began to shake as Anubis raised a card.

"What the hell is going on?!" roared Kaiba. "Kaiba… You are truly insane to reject my offer. You will pay. Meet your end: I hereby use Loki's effect to summon Jörmungandr, the World Eating Serpent (4000/3500)!"

A ghoulish shriek echoed throughout the Shadow Realm. A chill went down Kaiba's spine. What the hell was going on? Suddenly, a massive snake poked its head out of the shadows, and hissed. It was as if all evil in the world had been thrown into that snake. Slowly, the serpent's entire body came into visibility. Kaiba was only able to stand in shock.

Jörmungandr was a draconic serpent of tremendous size. Its sinuous coils seemed to extend through the infinite blackness of the Shadow Realm. It was a vile lurid magenta with a coal black wide band down its back, with a cherry-red underside that glowed like blood. It opened its mouth, and Kaiba noticed long rows of fangs. Each fang must have been about as long as Kaiba, who was six foot two himself. Its eyes were a deathly silver, and it was as if fire issued out of every pore of its skin. It looked like a blazing comet frozen in mid-flight.

"Jörmungandr was one of Loki's offspring. He is the second strongest of the three. Hel, the Demon Goddess who ruled the realm of death is far too weak for me to bother with. The strongest was Fenrir, the legendary wolf who was supposed to be the Destroyer of Gods. I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to locate him, which lead me to wonder if such power could even exist in this universe. After dealing with all my rivals, I will continue my quest to locate Fenrir. Coupled with my ancient Egyptian magic, even the legendary demon, Zorc the Dark One would fall against me."

Kaiba could only stare in shock and fear at Jörmungandr. Its attack points were nearly equal to his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. And no effect of any sort had been activated.

"Now I'll activate Jörmungandr's effect. You deplorable fool: its all over now. Jörmungandr a thousand attack points for every Norse monster in my graveyard. I count four: Loki, Ymir, Surtr, and Goliath. That's a grand total of eight thousand attack points, more than enough to wipe you out. Now, Jörmungandr, annihilate his dismal Luster Dragon and end this duel! Ragnarok Burst!"

Jörmungandr opened its maw and hissed again. A ball of black flame formed in the back of its mouth and it fired the blaze of unholy energy at Kaiba's weakest monster. "Fool! I activate Wabuko, not only protecting my dragon, but reducing all damage done to me to zero!" Anubis' eyes bulged with rage, as a group of robed men appeared. They began to chant, and finally stifled Jörmungandr's attack.

"I see that you are still persistently determined to survive. Very well," rumbled Anubis. "You are only delaying the inevitable."

Kaiba took a deep breath. At this rate, he wouldn't survive long. They were less than eight turns into the duel, and Anubis had already summoned two monster with over six thousand attack points. Plus, he probably still had those sphinxes lurking in his deck. He closed his eyes tight, and drew his next card.

He opened his eyes and relaxed. "I'll take a page out of Yugi's book and play the Swords of Revealing Light!" Anubis swore in rage as the three shining swords of light descended through the sky, cutting through the darkness. They landed in front of Jörmungandr and sealed off its path to attack.

"Just the cowardly move I expected from you, Kaiba," sneered Anubis.

Kaiba shook his head. "Idiot. It's a little thing that we true duelists call strategy." He glanced over his hand, and nodded. "I set one card facedown, and switch both my monsters to defense mode. End turn."

The two dragons folded their wings, and growled.

Anubis drew, his gnarled hand sweeping the card of the top of his dark Duel Disk. "The end is near, Seto Kaiba. Very near. Death has come calling, and no one can ignore it. I simply set one card facedown and end my turn. Two more turns. Two more turns until Jörmungandr tears you apart."

One of the swords disappeared. Kaiba bit his lip.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Marik drew, giving him five cards. "Time for this to end. I combine Ancient Emperor Paladin with Fairy Meteor Crush, allowing him to deal damage through defense. Then I'll have him attack your centaur. The overflow damage will put an end to this duel!"

The massive mage raised its staff and with a wicked grin, it fired an a ball of unholy black fire at the centaur. Marik's insane laughter echoed creepily throughout the room as the orb hit the hybrid. It was vaporized by the attack, and let out a single mournful groan before it was incinerated.

"Victory…. Its mine! Its all mine!" he shrieked madly.

Dartz shook his head sadly. "Perhaps not. Take a look at my life-points." To Marik's shock, they were still standing at five thousand. "My attack should have ended it! Even if your life-points were at their starting value, you would have been finished! The difference between your centaurs DEF and my paladin's ATK was over ten thousand!"

Suddenly, the next facedown monster on Dartz's field flipped up. Marik swore. It was a hideous fox, yet so beautiful. Standing about thirty feet high, it was an easy match in size for his paladin. Smooth, brownish-red fur glistened in the darkness. It's head looked normal enough, but its eyes glowed a demonic black, and were filled with bloodlust. Most shockingly, it had nine tails. They billowed out in the air behind its body. The fox growled at Marik.

"Meet my Orichalcos Nine-Tailed Fox (2000 + 500 2500/2500)," smirked Dartz. "A truly powerful beast."

"Did this mutt save you from my paladin?" growled Marik.

"On the contrary," replied Dartz. "Not only did it save me, but it will obliterate you as well. This _kyuubi, _or nine-tailed fox as it is called in English, is far more powerful than your pathetic Paladin. You see, if its been facedown for a turn, I can flip it face-up at any time, to save me from battle damage."

"A deplorable little special ability," countered Marik. "How is it supposed to help you? The ATK of your fox is less than a fourth of my monster. Next turn, I will eliminate you." Dartz shook his head. "Such big threats from such an incompetent man… it's shameful, that's what it is."

Marik laughed idly at the useless threat. "You pathetic fool… Just make your move."

Darts idly looked from one card to another. "Oh well, it doesn't matter which effect I use, seeing as you're finished anyway. My nine-tailed fox has a rather complicated effect. Each tail he has counts as a single counter. Right now, he has nine counters on. To remedy that, I'll switch him to attack mode."

Suddenly, two of the monstrous fox's tails disappeared. Marik let out a yell of shock as the fox fired a small, black orb of energy from its maw. It hit the paladin's chest, obliterating it. Marik was seething as he screamed, "What the hell just happened?!"

Dartz looked emptily over at Marik. "When I switch the fox's battle position, I may sacrifice two counters to remove from play any one card on the field. As long as I discard a card every subsequent standby-phase, that monster stays there. If I succeed to do that for the next two standby-phases, it will stay removed. But enough of that. I summon Orichalcos Solar Warrior (1200 + 500 1700/1200)!"

The new monster looked like the average Orichalcos soldier, except it was covered in shining armor. It wore a blazing red helmet, and an incandescent cape flared out behind it. It held a fiery sword in its right hand.

Dartz noticed that Marik was shaking with rage; and could it be, _fear_? No. He dismissed the idea in a moment. It looked more like Marik was losing his already unstable mind. His madness was overtaking him. Soon his existence would be a wasted and terrible one. "You should take it as a personal favor when I put you out of your misery," said Dartz. "Even with your twisted personality, it doesn't make sense that you'd be buried so deep within insanity before the very end."

Marik was laughing madly. "Oh but it does, you incompetent dumbass." Dartz was a bit taken aback by Marik's choice of language. He rarely used profanity, except during bad moments in duels. "When I defeat you, I will defeat Yami, and then after I attain the power of the Pharaoh, even Zorc the Dark One, at his absolute maximum strength could be snapped like a toothpick.

"But forget that. I'm too busy laughing at the irony of the situation. I remember that this was exactly how our last duel went. I was about to defeat you, but you saved yourself. Same thing went for our individual duels with Yami. He bounced back from the brink of defeat: the jaws of death. Ironically, I find myself in a situation like this. It all makes sense, Dartz, in ways that you would never understand."

Dartz shook his head. "You are preposterously insane. Nine-Tailed Fox, Solar Warrior, attack his directly!"

Marik's creepy laughter continued to echo through the room as he was hid by a devastating double attack: a blaze of flame from the warrior's sword, and a dark ball of energy from the fox's mouth. His purple cape had been incinerated by the attack. Bizarre chuckles still leaving his mouth, Marik threw of the remains of the tattered garment. He had only a hundred life-points left.

His laughter were reduced to mirthless giggles as he Dartz ended his turn with a facedown. "I must say…" mused Marik. "Particularly impressive. You have managed to get me so very close to defeat."

"What do you mean? You are going to lose. It's inevitable. Stop denying it."

Marik studied Dartz's fierce facial expression for a moment. "I first activate Rebirth of Creation. I draw the difference between our hands." Marik's hand was full now. So was Dartz's. It was a dangerous duel, one which both men were determined to win.

"Hmm… defeating your monster would be easy. But I'll let you keep it out for a little more time, so that you don't bother breaking down and bursting into tears."

"What the-…" spluttered Dartz at Marik's insult. The Egyptian man ignored him and continued, "I set a monster in defense mode, and two cards facedown. End turn."

Dartz watched him curiously. It wouldn't be like Marik Ishtar to take his own end so lightly. Odds were, he probably had some hair-brained scheme to protect himself from the oncoming attack of doom, but hey, you'd never know unless you tried. "First I discard a card to keep Ancient Emperor Paladin removed from play."

"Solar Warrior, attack his facedown monster now!"

"Activate Negate Attack," said Marik in a bored voice. The influx of fire was absorbed by a spinning vortex. Dartz shrugged. He had been expecting that. "Oh well. I activate my _kyuubi's _second ability. She can give up a counter per turn to activate this, or the other effect. By sacrificing this counter, I can deal you eight hundred points of damage. Goodbye."

Another of the fox's tails disappeared, and it fired a vortex of black energy at Marik, who gave Dartz a stupid grin. "I activate my other facedown, Right Hand of God. It lets me negate any damage done by a monster effect, and also draw cards equal to the intended damage divided by 500, rounded up to the higher digit." Marik go two more cards.

Dartz grimaced. Ever since Marik had entered 'psycho' mode, things had simply continued to go his way. It almost seemed unfair, especially since Dartz had not only field presence, but also card advantage. Not to mention 4900 more life-points than his opponent. "End turn."

Marik drew lazily. "Oh well. I guess its goodbye to your nine-tailed fox. Or should I say, _six-tailed_ fox?" He laughed quietly at his private joke. "Anyway, to your monster's destruction. Actually, to your _field's _destruction. Its very simple. I hate to use this card. Seriously, I _hate _it. But it's my only option at this point. I sacrifice my facedown Skelengel (900/400) to not only draw a card, but also summon Jinzo (2400/1500) to the field."

The angel disappeared, and was replaced by a new android. It wore grey and green armor, and stared at Dartz with blank eyes.

"Too weak to match my fox," pointed out Dartz, although he knew that this wasn't the end. There had to be something more in store for him. "I remove from play Drillago and Skelengel to summon the ultimate beacon of apocalypse, Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!"

Dartz gasped as the two silhouettes of Marik's monsters were made invisible by shining light. a huge creature emerged from the blinding light...and when the light died down, it was fully revealed: A huge tall dragon with a single red bang of hair behind his head, silver armor covering most of his chaotic blue body, and a huge wingspan. Its face also looked quite morphed, with glowing eyes that flashed with multiple colors, and a horrible set of jaws.

"Where the hell did you get such a rare card from?"

"Simple," smirked Marik. "While Maximillion Pegasus was under my control, I had him make me copies of both Chaos monsters. Otherwise, there are only ten copies of this card in the world."

"I know… I know," sighed Marik. "Why didn't I use Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning? He's a badass soldier with a sword, while this guy is Godzilla on a bad hair day. Simply put: the dragon will end this faster. First I activate Dian Keto the Cure Master, to grant me the 1000 life-points that I need to activate the Chaos Emperor Dragon's ability! Apocalypse Explosion!"

Dartz swore at the Chaos Emperor Dragon roared and began to glow. A vortex of light swirled around it, destroying every card on the field, along with itself. The two duelists discarded their hands. "What's more, you lose 300 life points for every card that was affected. I count eleven between our hands, and three on the field, since your Seal is invincible. That means you lose 4200 life points!"

Dartz gasped as his life-points shot down to 800. The playing field had been evened out now. Things were heating up. The clash of two evils would be decided very soon.

Marik smirked evilly. "One of the cards I sent to the graveyard was Repayment of Losses, which lets me draw another card."

He chuckled. "I play Disgraceful Charity, which lets us take back all cards from the graveyard that we just discarded. I was able to not only even the playing field, but also not lose most of my resources." He grinned at Dartz, and picked up the five cards that his graveyard spouted out.

"I'll set one card facedown and end my turn."

(Dartz: 800, Marik: 100)

Dartz drew. "First I discard a card to keep your Ancient Emperor Paladin in the graveyard. I summon the original beast of the Orichalcos: Orichalcos Dark Soldier (1200 + 500 1700/1000)!" A huge demon appeared. It had dull green skin, and was clad in heavy gray armor. It bared its teeth, and saliva dripped from its mouth. It raised its colossal fists and snarled at Marik, who yawned in reply and busily inspected his cards.

"You won't be so dismissive when he attacks, you fool!" snarled Dartz. "Go ahead, end this duel!" Marik smirked at his opponent, who came rushing forward. "I activate Draining Shield, negating your attack, and increasing my life-points by the ATK of you monster."

Dartz grunted in agitation. Marik had once again evaded his attack. He was _playing_ with him. "End turn."

(Dartz: 800, Marik: 1800)

Marik chuckled mirthlessly and drew. His eyes betrayed his arrogance as he observed the new card. "I now summon a powerful Level Six monster called Majestic Mech – Ohka (2400/1400) in attack mode!" She slammed the card on her disk, and a winged mechanical lion that glowed with pure white light all over its body suddenly appeared in front of him.

"How can you summon a level six monster without tributes?" snapped Dartz angrily.

"Idiocy," smirked Marik, "thy name is Dartz. Its effect states that I can summon it without tributes if I want to, as long as its destroyed at the end of the turn. It may be only an angel, but its something called strategy. I wouldn't leave such a useful monster out of my deck simply for its type. Anyway, attack his soldier with Majestic Roar!" The monster grunted and let out a massive roar. The soldier attempted to raise its hand to block the sheer force of the sound, but was blown away with ease.

Dartz grunted. He had only a hundred life-points left. On the other hand…. Another Orichalcos Dark Soldier had appeared on the field. "Upon the destruction of my monster, I can special summon another one from my deck."

Marik didn't really care. He ended his turn with three facedowns. The Majestic Mech – Ohka exploded in a white flux of light.

Dartz drew. "I activate Orichalcos Sword of Death. It can only be equipped to an Orichalcos Dark Soldier, and grants it a thousand attack points for every Dark Soldier in my graveyard, giving it a devastating total of twenty-seven hundred, enough to wipe you out!" A long broadsword that blazed with dark fire appeared in the Dark Soldier's hands. "What's more, it can't be destroyed until the end of the damage step."

"Next I'll have it attack you directly for game!" Marik smirked and revealed the first of his facedown cards. "If I'm supposed to take two thousand or more points of damage from one attack, Nutrient Z grants me four thousand life-points." Marik chuckled morbidly as his life-points shot up to 5800, leaving Dartz's far behind in the dust.

Dartz grimaced. Still, the attack would reduce Marik's life-points to a mere shadow of what they were now. "I know what you are thinking. That's why I have a backup: Wabuko, which will reduce all damage done to me to zero!" Dartz roared in rage as the familiar purple-robed men blocked his attack. "Finally, I activate my third trap card: the mighty Fruits of Greed. It can only be activated if my life-points have been increased by three thousand points or more this turn. I draw a card for every thousand life-points I gain."

Dartz gasped. Everything was against him! How could this be? "End turn," he said grudgingly.

Marik drew lazily. "I set one card facedown and summon a second Gene-Warped Warwolf (2000/100) in attack mode. I set a card and end my turn." The familiar, two-legged, massive wolf appeared. It was covered in heavy armor.

Dartz fervently picked a card of the top of his deck. "I see…. This is when it ends. I summon the counterpart of Orichalcos Dark Soldier. Meet Orichalcos Light Soldier (1000 + 500 1500/1500)!" A monster similar to the one already on the field appeared. Instead of gray armor, it wore white armor, but its eyes glistened with evil and hatred. "Finally, I activate the magic card, Orichalcos Yin Yang!"

The yin yang symbol, Taijitu, appeared above the two demons. "I can now sacrifice these two monsters to the effect of Orichalcos Yin Yang to summon one of the more powerful Orichalcos monsters: meet Orichalcos Chaos Soldier (3200 + 500 3700/3200)!"

The two soldiers shrieked and were sucked into a purple vortex. A new, horrible beast stepped out of the portal. It was about fifteen feet tall, and slightly resembled Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning, except the Soldier didn't look so deplorable. It was dressed in black and white armor, and carried a long, jagged sword in one hand, which was dripping blood. It didn't bother with a shield, and instead carried a twisted sword. Its face was horrible to look at. Every time Marik looked at it, he was reminded of the dark deeds performed throughout history….

"Indeed, a powerful monster," chuckled Dartz. "Thirty-seven hundred?" inquired Marik. "That's impressive, least to say."

"Especially since you are wide open," snarled Dartz. "I haven't even used its ability yet. You see, it gains six hundred attack points for every Orichalcos soldier, Light or Dark, in my graveyard. I count three." The attack points of the Orichalcos Chaos Soldier skyrocketed to fifty-five hundred, outmatching even a Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

"What's more, it can attack twice a turn, but only if you have a monster on the field. Since you do have your Gene-Warped Warwolf, this is the end. Attack his wolf now!" The massive warrior shrieked and brought its sword down onto the ground. A wave of energy issued forth, and tore through the ground in its destructive journey towards the Warwolf.

"You fool!" spat Marik. "I activate Widespread Ruin, which will destroy the monster on your field with the highest ATK!" Dartz gasped as an explosion of lava erupted behind the Warwolf. The Chaos Soldier was completely consumed by it, and in a matter of seconds it was incinerated. Dartz gasped in shock, "I can still save myself! I activate the quick-play spell card, Orichalcos Martyr's Contribution! When an Orichalcos monster is destroyed during the battle-phase, I gain the attack points of that monster in the form of life-points!"

Marik grunted as the smoke cleared, leaving an empty field, except for the angry Gene-Warped Warwolf. Dartz didn't seem too bothered at his monster's destruction. "I set one card facedown and end my turn," breathed Dartz.

(Dartz: 5600, Marik: 5800)

Dartz had depleted most of his resources during that turn. Luckily for him, he was back in the game when it came to life-points. Still, Marik had his powerful Gene-Warped Warwolf on the field. "Hmmm…. I activate Cost Down, discarding my Thunder Nyan-Nyan (1900/900) so that I can tribute Gene-Warped Warwolf to summon this: Emes the Infinity (2500/2000)!"

The wolf disappeared with a roar, and was replaced by a strange new mechanical warrior. It was dressed in such heavy silver armor to the extent that one could not make out any of its features. It had multiple arms, two of which wielded a sword and shield. Its body continued out behind it in an indescribable fashion, weaving in and out of the ground. Truly, this was a force to be reckoned with.

"I see," laughed Dartz. "You waste three cards to summon a monster with five hundred more attack points than the one on the field! Truly, it is rare to see such amateur-like moves!" He gave a dangerous laugh.

Marik ignored him. "Attack his life-points directly with Infinite Judgment!" The machine groaned sordidly, and raised its sword. Gracefully, the finely crafted blade descended and hit the ground. The energy wave that was released on threw up dust and dirt on either side as it continued on towards Dartz, who reacted with breakneck speed. "I activate my facedown card, Resurrection of the Doomed, which allows me to summon a monster from my graveyard in defense mode, till the end of the turn!"

Marik only grinned as the Orichalcos Dark Soldier reappeared. However, it was immediately torn apart. Suddenly, Emes' ATK increased to 3200!

"What the hell is going on?" snapped Dartz angrily. "When Emes destroys a monster, he gains seven hundred attack points. You should have taken the hit. Since you protected yourself, Emes is even more difficult to beat!"

Dartz growled as his third and final Orichalcos Dark Soldier appeared. Marik ended his turn.

The lord of the Orichalcos drew tentatively, and a truly evil smile spread across his face. "Marik Ishtar… time to show you the power that defeated Seto Kaiba himself! I pay five hundred life-points to special summon Orichalcos Kyutora (500 + 500 1000/500) in attack mode!"

A big eyeball with little spikes on its body was now floating there. Whatever it was, it was certainly a strange looking monster. Marik burst out laughing. "That pathetic little amputation defeated Kaiba? Don't make me laugh! It's almost impossible to imagine such an abomination being able to survive!"

Dartz ignored the jibes. "Next I play the card to seal your fate: Fated Paradise! It is an extremely powerful card, and lets me sacrifice one monster on my field to fill my monster card zone with token-like copies of the same monster!" Marik gasped as the Orichalcos Dark Soldier disappeared. In its place, nine identical copies appeared (All 1200 + 500 1700/1000).

"Such a powerful card cannot exist!" gasped Marik.

"Yes, unfortunately there is a catch. At the end of my next turn, they are all destroyed. They cannot attack, or be used as tributes. I must also pay a thousand life-points." Dartz winced a little as his life-points went down to 4600.

Suddenly, Marik noticed something. "Each and every monster is in attack mode!" Dartz smirked. "Yes, I forgot to mention that little detail. Fated Paradise is a powerful card, but this is another one of its little _drawbacks_."

Marik noticed the disdain that Dartz showered over the final word of his sentence. It didn't seem too normal, but Marik ignored it. This was the end of Dartz. "I end my turn."

Marik drew, and smirked at his hand. It was good to finally get a chance to use this card. "I activate my equip spell card, the powerful Infinite Apocalypse. It can only be equipped to Emes. He can now attack every monster on your field!" He laughed morbidly. "Die, Dartz! Die, knowing that your pitiful resistance was a mere obstacle that the invincible Marik Ishtar cast aside with ease! **ATTACK**!!!!!!!"

Emes screeched and raised its sword. Lightning struck it from somewhere in the darkness of the room. This was of course, a Shadow Game being played while the Seal was on the field. Nothing could compare to the attack that was going to be performed. There was an explosion, and Emes' sword was blazing. It fired flaming orbs of energy at each and every monster on Dartz's field, blowing them away one by one. It was as if they were beings of pure darkness, being dispelled by the oncoming fire. Finally, Kyutora was destroyed as well.

Marik smirked triumphantly as Emes (9500/2000) finally stopped attacking. The smoke cleared. However, Dartz's life-points were untouched. Marik exploded. "HOW CAN THAT BE? I DID OVER FIFTY THOUSAND POINTS OF DAMAGE THIS TURN! I COULD HAVE TAKEN YOU OUT SIX TIMES OVER!!!!!"

Dartz smirked. "You idiot. You seem to forget that I am no ordinary duelist. The effect of Orichalcos Kyutora states that no damage can be done while it is on the field. In effect, it 'absorbs' all damage."

Marik was seething with rage. "_Once again victory has slipped through my fingers!_' It had all been going as smoothly as a mamba gliding through water, and yet he had failed.

"But your attack has just sealed your own fate," pointed out Dartz.

"I see. Care to elaborate? I have more life-points than you, and more cards in my hand. Plus, the attack points of my monster are….. _over nine thousand_."

Dartz chuckled. "You see, my Kyutora has a bit of ability. When its destroyed, I can special summon a certain monster from my hand or deck. This monster is extra-powerful."

"No matter how powerful it is, it can't take out ninety-five hundred attack points," growled Marik. "On the contrary," replied Dartz. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome my personal favorite…. Orichalcos Shunoros!!!"

The darkness began to rumble, and a terrible shape began to take form within the shadows. A massive statue-like creature arose from the darkness. It stood about sixty feet in height, minimum. It was green in color, with intricate blue designs covering its body. A huge head, far out of proportion with its body sat on what might be called shoulders. It had two massive arms, which began to break off.

"What is this abomination?" gasped Marik.

"The ultimate Orichalcos monster," sneered Dartz. "That's what it is. You see, Orichalcos Shunoros' ATK is equal to the damage absorbed by Kyutora." Marik felt his knees go weak as Shunoros' ATK skyrocketed (55000/0).

"Fif….Fifty-five thousand?" roared Marik.

"Quite correct. Also, upon being summoned, Shunoros allows me to summon two more powerful monsters; Orichalcos Dexia and Orichalcos Aristeros. Dexia always has three hundred more attack points than the monster its attacking, and Aristeros always has three hundred more defense points than the attacking monster's ATK. Therefore, all three monsters are invincible. But it doesn't matter. Shunoros' attack will take care of you now. This time there is no escape for you. This ends now! Attack his Emes with Photon Ring!"

A ring of energy appeared over Shunoros' head. Marik had calmed down, but still looked worried. The ring floated over to Emes' and hovered over it. With a downward snap, and clamped over the flailing machine's torso. He snarled angrily, and tried to break free. But it was to no avail. It was easily crushed. "Its over," said Dartz, relaxing, as the ring continued on towards Marik. There was an explosion.

"Not quite," called back Marik's voice through the smoke that had arisen from Shunoros' attack. Suddenly, thousands of brown furballs were multiplying throughout the darkness. "Kuriboh was always a helpful friend," said Marik.

Dartz exploded with rage. Dexia and Aristeros only had attack points while attacking monsters. Attacks with them would be useless. "I…… end my turn."

Marik drew and a dark look crossed his face. It was as if Satan himself had descended to Earth in the form of Marik. "Shunoros is powerful…. But this is the end. You see Dartz, I've just drawn Ragnarok Dragon."

**I'm back!!!!! Yes, I've really been waiting for this chapter, even more so for the next. The climatic ending to the Marik vs. Dartz duel will come later, and my second, favorite, dark God, will be revealed in all its glory. As for Anubis vs. Kaiba, there's a LOT more to come.**

**Big news. I have a chapter average of five thousand words now, and four thousand reads for this story! A big thank you to everyone.**

**Two more things. I'm planning to right another story, like a what-if. Its what if Kaiba excepted Anubis' offer in the above chapter.**

**Two. To Metal Overlord 2.0. You ask for a eight headed serpent god. I give you a nine-tailed fox. Pretty cool, eh?**

**Original Cards**

**Anubis: Loki, the Ultimate Trickster, Wicked Bonus, Jörmungandr, the World Eating Serpent, Goliath: Giant of Apocalypse.**

**Marik: Ancient Emperor Paladin, Rise of the Ancients**

**Dartz: Every single Orichalcos card except for Dexia, Aristeros, Shunoros and Kyutora.**

**By Seeker of the Soul: Orichalcos Dark Soldier (the rest of the set is mine, though), and Repayment of Losses. If you like Yu-Gi-Oh…… READ HIS STORIES.**


	29. Unending Horror

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: Unending Horror

**Shadowcat: Thanks, man.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Cool card. Unfortunately, Marik can't use it. Consult the closing note when you are done with the chapter. Thanks for the comments.**

**Princess Yunariana: Wait and watch.**

It was Kaiba's turn. He shakily drew a card. He knew that if he wasn't able to destroy Jörmungandr within two turns, it was all over for him. But glancing up to his field, he felt a ring of confidence pass through him. He controlled the Blue Eyes White Dragons. With them by his side, the chance of losing was nonexistent. He examined his hand and nodded in satisfaction. He would need a couple of good draws, but yes, defeating Jörmungandr was feasible.

He looked Anubis directly in the eye, coldly.

"I will see you fall." The words rolled from his tongue like daggers, determined to stab Anubis. The God of Death laughed at this comment. Kaiba shook off the insult and made his move.

"I activate Tribute to the Doomed! By discarding Kaiser Seahorse from my hand, I can destroy your Jörmungandr!" A zombie covered in bandages began to creep out of the ground. It groaned and attempted to latch onto Jörmungandr's tail. The serpent roared angrily and shook it off. The mummy immediately disappeared.

"Jörmungandr is immune to all magic and traps that specifically target it," said Anubis nastily. Kaiba glanced around helplessly. There was nothing he could do. In two more turns, Jörmungandr would be free.

Anubis' laughter rang out through the air as Seto fell to his knees. "You should have joined me Kaiba. Nothing will save you. Your pathetic little brother will be dealt with when I get back! It will be quite fun to tell him how his brother, the great Seto Kaiba begged and pleaded for mercy!"

Kaiba stopped. "_Mokuba…._" He stood up, a snarl forming on his face. The rage with which he screamed was uncomprehendable. "_**DON'T YOU DARE MENTION MY BROTHER YOU PATHETIC DOG!!!!"**_

Even Anubis was taken aback by the sheer force of Kaiba's words. He had never felt anything like this. Jörmungandr roared in indignation at this insult, but the Blue Eyes let out a sound so earth shattering than the Norse demon was silenced. "YOU AND YOUR FRIEND MARIK MADE ONE MISTAKE," roared Kaiba. "YOU DARED TO MESS WITH MY FAMILY! AND NOW YOU PATHETIC CREEPS ARE GOING TO PAY! **IN BLOOD**!!!!"

"A fine speech, Kaiba," said Anubis coldly. All arrogance was lost. "But actions speak louder than words."

Kaiba laughed mirthlessly. "I see you don't understand yet. You don't have a clue what's coming."

"I know that you're going to die," spat Anubis. "Oh no. I'm not going do die," retorted Kaiba. "No?"

"You are truly clueless. You think you're a God. At this point, you probably are. Well let me tell you something. God thinks of eternity, Satan reasons like a man. You're trying to combine both those characteristics into one being: yourself. As I can tell, you're doing a pathetic job. By the end of this duel, I'll be picking you apart. Your mind is failing. Its over."

Anubis stood silently. "And since you want actions, I'll be only too happy to give them to you. Prepare for the combo that will take out your reptile." He held up the index and middle finger of his right hand. "Two turns. In exactly three turns, Swords of Revealing Light will expire. That will signal the end of your monster." He ended his turn a with a morbid smile.

Anubis drew, the sordid smirk slipping of his face as he watched Kaiba's crazed expression. Anubis really did know how to push buttons on people, but always ended up doing it at the wrong time so that his opponents became psychos. He hated having to deal with emotionally-driven psychos. Intimidating adversaries was Anubis' specialty. But intimidating psychos was frickin' impossible! Of course, Anubis could go psycho himself, but he had been trying to change his brutal, violent demeanor to that of a smooth-talking, sinister gentleman after seeing how effective it was for Marik.

What the heck. He frowned at Kaiba and shook his head. "I end my turn." The second sword disappeared.

Kaiba's crazy look faded, but only a bit. "Hmmm… I find myself wondering whether to smash Jörmungandr with brute force, or to use one of my badass combos?"

Anubis ignored the taunts. Kaiba continued, "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

The God of Death drew, and glanced at his card in disgust. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn. Now the Swords will expire, and Jörmungandr will be able to rip you apart next turn!"

Kaiba drew. His expression was back to normal, the classic smirk spread across his face. "For now I'll set another card facedown and end my turn."

Anubis drew and laughed to himself. "Activate Stop Defense to shift your Luster Dragon to attack mode!" "Sorry," intervened Kaiba. "I'm afraid I must activate Shift, to change your target to the Blue Eyes!"

The massive dragon growled and opened its wings. It let out an earth-shattering roar.

Anubis roared in frustration. "ATTACK HIS BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON WITH RAGNAROK BURST!" A ball of black flame formed in the back of its mouth and it fired the blaze of unholy energy at the powerful dragon.

"I will defeat you in this turn," snarled Anubis. "Activate my quick-play spell, Unshakable Fury! It boosts the ATK of one monster on my field by 2000 at the cost of two discards. I discard Sleipnir, the Eight Legged Horse (1900/0) and Heimdall the Divine Guard (3000/3000), more Norse monsters, boosting Jörmungandr to a massive 12000!"

Kaiba chuckled. "You've sealed your fate. I chain Reverse Trap, reversing all increases and decreases in attack points." Anubis gasped as Jörmungandr's ATK shot down to a comparatively tiny 2500 after skyrocketing to 12000.

"Counter attack with White Lightning!" roared Kaiba. Anubis snarled in anger as the Blue Eyes countered with a massive ball of white energy. The two orbs clashed for a few minutes, and then with a roar from the dragon, the white ball crashed into Jörmungandr and obliterated it. The explosion that destroyed the god was extremely powerful, and even forced Anubis to his knees.

"Victory!" boomed Kaiba. "Its mine, its all mine!"

"Not quite," grunted Anubis as he stood up against the powerful winds. "I activate Hellish Ascension, which only activates when I take over four thousand points of damage in one attack. Instead, I can remove five monsters in my graveyard from play to negate all damage, and instead double the amount of potential damage and increase my life-points by that amount!"

Kaiba swore. His one golden chance the wipe out Anubis had been snatched from the tips of his fingers. Nails dug into his palm as he glared at his opponent in agitation.

Anubis gloated to himself. He had lost a truly powerful beast to carelessness, but he was still very much in the game. "I set a card and end my turn."

(Anubis: 10200, Kaiba: 4800)

Kaiba ripped the next card off the top of his deck. A dark smile graced his features. "You fool! Its over! I activate Dragon Heart, send three dragons from my deck to the graveyard to boost the ATK of my Blue Eyes by a thousand! Next I activate my face down continuous trap, Dragon's Rage, which gives all dragons on my field trample!" He laughed out loud as the Blue Eyes glowed with extra power.

"This is my true power! This is what you wished to witness. ATTACK HIS MONSTER WITH WHITE LIGHTNING!" The Blue Eyes' attack rushed towards the facedown monster (7800/2500).

"Idiot," snarled Anubis. "This particularly useful facedown is known as Azure Fiend- Traitor from the Depths (0/0)!" A purplish demon appeared, with long horns and disgustingly filthy teeth. Dressed in only a loin-cloth, it screeched and leapt straight towards the Blue Eyes, avoiding the attack. Catching onto the Blue Eyes' neck, it smirked. Anubis continued, "When its attacked, I get a choice. Either let it be destroyed, or activate its effect."

He drew the top card of his deck, and didn't look at it. Instead, he held it up for Kaiba to see. "I have to guess whether my top card is a magic, trap, or monster. If I guess right, then your Blue Eyes is destroyed, no damage is done, and I can also draw cards equal to half your monster's level. _If, _however, I guess wrong, your attack goes through and I also lose life-points equal to your monsters attack points!"

Kaiba looked at him as if the God of Death was stupid. "If you end up guessing wrong, then you lose fifteen thousand six hundred life-points. Far more than you currently have." Anubis nodded. "True…. True… But who cares? I've created this Shadow Game. No matter how much you try, you can't defeat someone in their home turf. Now for the defining moment….."

"I choose magic!" Anubis flipped the card around and looked at it. His face was expressionless. He showed it to Kaiba. It was a trap card: the Pyramid of Light.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dartz's complexion showed a mixture of absolute shock, yet, at the same time, curiosity. "Isn't that your second god card?"

Marik let out a chilling laugh, unlike anything the prince of Atlantis had ever heard. "Yes, it is. And let me tell you, Dartz, Ragnarok Dragon is a god unlike anything you have ever faced."

Dartz frowned. "I've faced gods before. What do you think I did against the Pharaoh? My leviathan battled the Egyptian gods. What makes you say that your Ragnarok Dragon is anything different from those monsters?"

Marik shook his head, as if unable to explain to a child that one plus one was two. He held up three fingers.

"Allow me to explain. The gods are on different tiers, according to their power. On tier one, are the immortals. Not quite gods, nor even demi-gods. Your Divine Serpent, Orichalcos Demon Dragon, and of course that fool Yakou Tenma's fake gods fit the bill perfectly. More like angels and demons of the pantheon. Do remember that I am speaking of the creatures themselves, and not the cards."

He dropped a finger, indicating that one was counted off. "Next comes tier two. Definitely more powerful. This includes the more powerful god cards, such as Obelisk the Tormentor and Slifer the Sky Dragon. Giglamesh the Chaos Warrior ranks evenly with these two. Even one of these gods has more than enough power to wipe out every one of the tier one gods I mentioned. Problem is, things are different in actual duels." He dropped a second finger; a wide, bloodthirsty grin coming to his face.

Dartz sighed. "You fool…. Are you done with your ranting? Let me just end this duel and kill you already!" Marik glared at him darkly.

"We now come to my favorite tier: tier three. This one contains the extremely feared and deadly Winged Dragon of Ra. In its original god form, Ra was invincible. Even in a duel, it has six effects, making it more powerful than any conventional monster, even the Chaos Warrior. What I'm about to show you ranks a little below Ra, but what it lacks in raw power, it makes up in many other ways. Now, allow me to show you the ultimate strength of the RAGNAROK DRAGON!"

Marik held a card aloft. "It ends now! I play Dimension Fusion, to revive Gene-Warped Warwolf (2000/0), Frostosaurus (2600/1700), and Spiral Serpent (2900/2900)." The wolf, dinosaur, and sea-serpent all appeared behind their master, growling at Orichalcos Shunoros. Dartz was amused. "Weaklings, each and every one of them."

Marik ignored him. "The time has come! You will feel true retribution. I sacrifice these three monsters to summon the scion of the End. Meet my Ragnarok Dragon (?/?)!!!" The three monsters disappeared in flashes of light.

The Shadow Realm began to quiver. Pulses of power began to come into existence around Marik, whose face showed absolute seriousness. He raised his hand and clenched it into a tight fist, which he brought to bear near his chest. The Rod was glowing with power, and the darkness began to swirl around Marik, like a tornado of shadows.

Dartz shivered. Sounds; evil, ancient sounds were plaguing him… It was the sound of the end. The sound of Apocalypse. He heard people screaming… children crying. He heard beast's cries, along with the roars of monstrous beings not of this world. He was listening to the sadness of the end.

There was a roar. It sounded like it was coming from a time before anything had begun. It was a sound that was coming from a time before Creation. Shadows began to coalesce together and form body parts. Dartz watched in horror as the monster finally formed. In an explosion of light, it gained color.

The god was a two hundred and fifty foot long beast, making Giglamesh look small. Its sinuous neck snaked out from massive shoulders, with a house-sized head nestled on the neck. Its wings were each perhaps the size of a Boeing 747-400, and when they stretched out, it was as if the world was thrown into darkness (it was impossible in this case, as the Shadow Realm was filled with darkness in any case). Titanic spikes started between its eyes, and continued on to the very tip of its tail. The dragon was golden and blood-red in color, with evil eyes. The hellish maw opened. A roar so loud thundered out that the entire Shadow Realm began to shake.

"Behold," boomed Marik. "The power of the Ragnarok Dragon. A god that eats beasts like Shunoros for breakfast."

Dartz started in fear and shock. He knew he was up against the might of a creature of inconceivable strength. It would strike him down, just like the Knight of Destiny did all those years ago. He fell to his knees, shaking.

"No matter what you do now, you're finished," continued Marik. "Pull any combo you want to save yourself, but it will end your life as well. My god can crush all your mightiest beasts at the same time."

Dartz suddenly looked up, a mad glint in his eyes. "_No… you fool._" Marik raised an eyebrow.

"_There is yet one monster left in my deck that will tear you apart. And by doing what I think you plan to do, its all over. Go ahead and make your move. Seal your fate_."

Marik scoffed. "That's enough bravado from you. After twenty-six turns, it's over. _Your _fate is what is sealed. Witness my Ragnarok Dragon's absolute power! I activate its effect!" The colossal beast began to glow.

"Its attack and defense points are increased by five hundred, for every monster in both our graveyard and removed from play piles. Between all the monsters destroyed in battle, discarded due to various effects, and of course my Chaos Emperor Dragon's explosion, I count a grand total of thirty-two. My dragon gains sixteen thousand attack points."

The dragon let out a growl as its stats increased to a deadly 16000/16000. They were dealing with five digits here, but it was still thirty nine thousand attack-points short of Shunoros.

"My, my," drawled Dartz. "All those attack points, but they won't help you." Marik glared at him, and spat, "I don't think so. First, I attack Orichalcos Dexia! Darkness Divinity Blast!" The titanic dragon threw back its head, and a multi-colored orb that reflected a thousand faucets of light began to appear in its mouth. With a roar, it let out the blast in full force.

The miniscule monster was hit head on, and by all rights should have been annihilated. However, it was a duel, and the rules of the game could not be neglected, even by a Shadow Game. By the time the smoke cleared, Marik's life-points were down by three hundred, to thirty-three hundred.

"Of course," agreed Dartz. "Shunoros will lose attack points equivalent to the defense points that Dexia had. It doesn't matter. He's still more than twice as strong as your Ragnarok Dragon. Shunoros gave a strange groan as its ATK decreased to 38700.

Marik chuckled. "Fool. This is my winning play. I activate Ragnarok Dragon's second ability, Hell Barrage! For every extra card that your hand includes that I don't, I can attack one more time! So Shunoros, say goodbye to another sixteen thousand three hundred attack points! Darkness Divinity Blast!" Dartz braced himself for the attack as his Orichalcos Dexia was hit by another devastating attack.

Shunoros had grown weaker again. It was at less than half its original strength, at twenty-two thousand four hundred, but still far above the Ragnarok Dragon. "It doesn't matter!" boomed Dartz. "Nothing can stop me!"

Marik raised an eyebrow. "I see. I activate my quick-play magic card, It Comes Back to Haunt You. If you possess a monster stronger than mine, you take one hundred points of damage for the combined levels of all your monsters. However, I must discard a card for this effect." Shunoros was level twelve, and both its arms were level three. Dartz took eighteen hundred points of damage.

But Dartz didn't care. He looked on in horror. Marik had lost another two cards, which meant that he got another attack, crippling Shunoros. "Now, bring about the end of this fool!" Dartz roared in anger as the Ragnarok Dragon powered up a beam of pure energy and blasted its target once again. Once again, it weathered the attack, resulting in Marik having only twenty-seven hundred life-points left.

Shunoros (6100/0) still had more attack points than the base ATK of any other monster, but it was now much weaker than the Ragnarok Dragon.

Dartz's eyes bulged against the triumphant look on Marik's face. "Now, end it all with Darkness Divinity Blast!" The massive god let out a deathly growl, and fired a blast of energy bigger than all the previous ones combined. Shunoros glowed, and Dexia and Aristeros attached themselves to Shunoros' arm sockets. Stretching out its arms, Shunoros caught the oncoming ball of energy.

"I WILL NOT LOSE!" screamed Dartz as Shunoros attempted to push the attack back towards Marik.

"YOU ALREADY DID!" replied Marik angrily. "Ragnarok Dragon, end it now!" The divine dragon roared and suddenly its attack continued on, shattering Shunoros in a mind-blowing explosion. Marik laughed out loud crazily through the thick smoke.

"Finally, I win… It's over!"

A panting voice called out from within the noxious gas. "_Not…quite…_" Marik stopped laughing immediately and stared into the smoke, as if he desired to use the mere power of his sight to annihilate the only living being there…

As Dartz revealed himself, he was holding up a card. "A quick-play spell card, Orichalcos Immortal Warrior. If you've had more than three attacks this turn, I can reduce the total battle damage taken from one attack by two thousand for each attack you've had this turn, before this one. I was to take ninety-nine hundred points of damage this turn. However, it was reduced to thirty-nine hundred thanks to my card. I'm still in the game."

Marik remained calm. "Take a look at our life-points. There's nothing you can do. My Ragnarok Dragon is invincible. End turn."

(Marik: 2700, Dartz: 100)

The Orichalcos duelist didn't bother taking his draw. "So, you've realized it," smirked Marik. "You cannot win. At this point, nothing short of an infinite loop can defeat my god."

Dartz glanced at him strangely. "Hmmm…. I'm not planning an infinite loop. But something very similar. I'd like to congratulate you. You've just done yourself in."

All of a sudden, a massive vortex appeared in the sky, and green snake of immeasurable size shot. Only a part of the snake was sticking out of the vortex, but that part was at least fifty feet long. It was dull green in color, and had evil, yellow eyes. Marik stared at it in horror, and the Ragnarok Dragon roared in anger at the new arrival.

"_When Shunoros is destroyed, Divine Serpent (∞/∞) arises_," whispered Dartz, sanity barely discernible in his mad eyes. Marik took a step back in fear.

"_My life-points go down to zero and my must discard my hand. I cannot lose until Divine Serpent is destroyed. But it ends now. I discard ten cards from my deck to give my Divine Serpent the chance to attack your god."_

The hellish serpent opened its maw. A screech was heard. Marik recoiled, looking around in panic.

"_End it_."

Suddenly, as a ball of energy formed in the reptilian beast's mouth, Marik's face went blank, and all signs of emotion left his face. The Divine Serpent let out the titanic blast of energy in the direction of the Ragnarok Dragon. In the midst of the explosion, Dartz was sure he saw a small grin cross Marik's face, followed by a glow of light. He thought for a second that he had activated a card to protect himself, but after glancing at the life-point counter, he knew it was over.

(Dartz: 0, Marik: 0)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"YOU LOSE," roared Kaiba. The fiend was about to explode, when Anubis wordlessly played another card from his hand. "Unfortunately for you, I had a backup plan," chuckled Anubis.

"I activate Hellish Retribution. I can only activate it if I'm going to lose life-points equal to or more than the ATK of your strongest monster. In that case, I can automatically negate that loss of life-points." Kaiba growled. In any case, the Azure Fiend was destroyed, and Anubis lost seventy-eight hundred life-points. The God of Death shrugged. "I still get to add the Pyramid of Light to my hand. So it doesn't matter. I have a feeling that this duel won't last too long now."

(Anubis: 2400, Kaiba: 4800)

Anubis drew aggressively. "I activate the magic card, United Gain. By sending three monsters from each of our decks to the graveyard, we both gain three hundred life-points for each monster. You may choose your monsters." Without hesitation, Kaiba discarded Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400), Spear Dragon (1900/0), and Rare Metal Dragon (2300/1200).

Anubis chose his three monsters silently. "Another effect of United Gain was that if the total combined ATK of your three chosen monsters was above five thousand, I draw cards equal to the level of your weakest monster." Kaiba grunted angrily. The nine hundred life-point gain meant nothing to him. Not when Anubis had replenished his hand with such pathetic ease.

Anubis glanced at his new card. "I set one card facedown, and activate the effect of my Leo Sphinx (2400/1200), which allows me to remove three monsters in my graveyard from play to summon it." A sphinx appeared. It was sandy-golden in color. However, it looked alive, and sharp claws flexed themselves, and the terrifying head of a lion revealed itself.

"It has less than a third of my dragon's strength. It does not help you."

Anubis shook his head, bemused. "The Leo Sphinx has an especially nasty effect. It only activates if you hold more than five cards, and my hand size yet exceeds yours. I can attack you directly. Leo Sphinx, Nemean Claw!"

Kaiba braced himself as the powerful sphinx rushed forward, bypassing the Blue Eyes and slashing him across the chest. He grunted in pain, and straightened himself, glaring at the retreating attacker. "By leaving your monster in attack mode, you've just ended the game," chuckled Kaiba.

"Really? I activate the magic card, Ancient Doom. If you have a normal monster on the field, I can destroy it." Kaiba's eyes bulged with rage. A zombie-like dragon appeared above the Blue Eyes, flapping its wings obscenely. It screeched, and a bolt of lightning descended out of nowhere, blowing Kaiba's monster to dust.

"You'll pay for that," roared Kaiba as the mighty deity ended his turn with a facedown.

(Anubis: 2400, Kaiba: 2400)

Before Kaiba could draw, Anubis gave a hollow laugh, and spoke in a creepy voice. "Activate trap card, Pyramid of Light." Kaiba gasped as a shining ball appeared in the air. Four bluish-white beams began to shoot out of the ball, extending all over the Shadow Realm. The four beams then began to fill in with blue energy. The walls blocked out everything outside of the duel. It was eerie experience, being surrounded by absolute light and darkness at the same time.

"Next I pay a thousand life-points to special summon special summon Andro Sphinx (3000/2500) and Sphinx Teleia (2500/3000), both in attack mode!" The first creature to appear was a monster that looked like it had the head of a lion, with a long flowing sandy blonde mane. It was bipedal, and dressed in a large blue robes. It had sharp, large claws. The second creature that then appeared had the head of a young woman with long pink hair. Her eyes were golden colored. From her neck down though, she had a gray fur covered body of what looked like a lion that had wings. Her feet bore strong, powerful sharp claws.

Kaiba remembered these monsters from Anubis' first duel with Yugi. It was unwise to trifle with these beasts, but when he was fueled by rage and fury, they wouldn't stop Kaiba. Nothing would.

"Hmm… now you're really dead. I activate Premature Burial, resurrecting my Blue Eyes at the cost of eight hundred life-points." Anubis raised an eyebrow. The mighty dragon rose once again (3000/2500).

"Now I have a beast that can go toe to toe with your stronger sphinx. Blue Eyes, obliterate Sphinx Teleia!" "I'm afraid I cannot allow that," interrupted Anubis loudly. "I activate my facedown card, Draining Shield, negating your attack and granting me three thousand life-points." Kaiba snarled as Anubis' life-points shot up to 5400. With nothing he could do, he ended with a facedown.

Anubis drew, almost lazily. "Hmm….. there's not much I can do. I switch Sphinx Teleia to defense mode and end my turn with a facedown."

Kaiba drew carelessly, utterly confident of his power. A slow grin spread across his face. "It's over, Anubis. Its time for you to face one of the most powerful beasts in the game! I activate the magic card Polymerization to fuse the Blue Eyes on the field with the two in my hand to summon a creature that is truly powerful. **Meet the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon** (4500/3800)!"

Two more metallic looking dragons with large wings then appeared on the field with a loud roar. The three dragons then roared in unison and swirled together. When the swirling ended, a new three headed dragon appeared on the field, each head roaring loudly. The massive dragon glared at Anubis, seemingly signaling what was to come.

'

Anubis was quiet throughout the summoning. "Yes," he whispered to himself. "This is the power to end all… I will take it."

Kaiba heard this, and scoffed. "Pathetic. Do you think you can command the Blue-Eyes? It takes more skill than you possess. Only I can do it. And if you want me to be truthful, Yugi Moto can do it just as well as I can. But that's it."

Anubis ignored him. "Make your move," he pressed.

"With pleasure!" roared Kaiba. "I attack your disgusting Andro Sphinx with Neutron Blast!" Each of the dragon's heads fired a massive blast of energy in the stronger sphinx's direction. The three blasts combined into one, completely obliterating the large hybrid. The very walls of the pyramid shook.

"Sorry," interjected Anubis. "I activate my facedown card, Sibling's Sacrifice. It only works with Andro Sphinx and Sphinx Teleia. If one is destroyed in battle, I can immediately sacrifice the other to skip the Damage Step!"

"A pathetic card," snorted Kaiba. "You have to give up a specific monster to negate all damage when another specific monster is destroyed?"

"Actually," retorted Anubis, "it gives me another effect. You see, when the two sphinxes are destroyed at the same time, I can pay 500 life-points summon a new monster. One I'm sure you're familiar with."

Kaiba gasped in realization. Anubis was about to summon a monster of unspeakable power. Shadows were coalescing from all over the Shadow Realm. The point of accumulation was beginning to take shape. Soon, the shadows disappeared to reveal a new creature. A monster that looked like a combination of the two sphinxes that were just destroyed then appeared. Its torso up was made up of the blonde haired sphinx, but on his back was the female sphinx. Below his torso, the sphinx had the female sphinx's body. It had two large, golden wings.

"Meet Thenien the Great Sphinx (3500/3000)!" roared Anubis. The Pyramid around his neck was going haywire. Sphinx and dragon roared at each other, neither willing to back down.

Kaiba relaxed. "My dragon is a thousand attack points stronger than your lion cub. I'm afraid you are out of luck." Anubis scoffed. "I cannot be restricted by such pathetic technicalities. First I equip Thenien with Fallout, boosting his ATK by 4000!"

Thenien immediately grew in size, and his ATK rose to seventy-five hundred. Kaiba's heart missed a beat. "What kind of broken equip card is that?" "A very powerful one. However, I must skip my next five draw phases, Main phases, and Battle-Phases."

Kaiba began to laugh. "No card is worth such a cost. You are truly a fool."

Anubis shook his head. "Not quite. I activate the powerful magic card, End of Cruelty! By removing five cards in my deck from play, I can reduce the number of turns required by Fallout's effect by one for each card." Kaiba gaped as Anubis took five cards from his deck and removed them from play.

"Next I activate Thenien's own effect, paying five hundred life-points to boost his attack points by three thousand!" The titanic sphinx's ATK once again rose, this time to 10500.

"Now, attack with Rage of the Sphinx!" The massive hybrid roared and rushed forward. It threw its fist back and slugged the dragon hard in the chest. Kaiba stood by helplessly in horror as his dragon attempted a weak counterattack, before it was shattered by another attack.

"You lose!" roared Anubis. "Not quite," said Kaiba weakly. "I activate the quick-play magic card, Reduction barrier, reducing all damage I take to ten percent. Sorry, I'm still in the game."

Anubis snarled but quickly calmed down and said, "We will see. Although Thenien's effect wears off, 7500 is still too much for you. End turn."

(Anubis: 3400, Kaiba: 1000)

Kaiba closed his eyes. For the first time in his life, he understood what Yugi meant about the Heart of the Cards. There came a time when logic and power deserted one, and they were left to rely on faith and faith only. His eyes snapped open. Only one card could save him now.

He pulled his card off the top of his deck, and smirked. He laughed. "It ends now. I activate Monster Reborn to revive my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" The three-headed behemoth reappeared, roaring at the sphinx that destroyed it. It was silenced by a single grunt.

"Next I sacrifice for my truly supreme dragon! I'm sure you remember him Anubis! Welcome my Blue Eyes Shining Dragon (3000/2500) to the field!" Anubis roared in rage, unable to accept the fact that one of the only two that had defeated him in the past had returned.

A blinding white light then filled the field, everyone, except Seto, cover their faces. Anubis glanced back up, only to see a figure forming in the black light. Slowly, large wings, with a long neck and powerful head formed. Finally, the light died down enough to reveal the figure was a mighty dragon made of silver metal. It had no arms, but powerful metallic legs, along with mighty metallic wings, and a powerful metal tail. It's head was powerful and coated in the same metal, and it had several blue half spheres on it's body. One on each of the top of it's wings, then one in it's chest, one on the top of it's head, and several down it's back. The dragon let out a higher pitched screech than the other previous Blue-Eyed dragons had.

Kaiba laughed haughtily, knowing his victory was secured. The Shining Dragon was special, and it wouldn't let him down, he knew it. "I activate its effect, allowing it gain three hundred attack points for every dragon in my graveyard. Let's do a little count. I have ten, meaning my dragon is already at six thousand."

"Not enough," scoffed Anubis, relaxing.

"Not yet. I activate Excavation of Mage Stones, discarding two more dragons from my hand to get back my Ultimate Dragon's Sanctuary." The Blue Eyes Shining Dragon's ATK went up to 6600, yet not enough to take out Thenien. "Finally, I replay Ultimate Dragon's Sanctuary, discarding Repayment of Losses and Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200) to boost its ATK by another twenty-three hundred!"

Kaiba's ultimate monster was now at a huge 8900, more than enough to beat Thenien. "Since I discarded Repayment of Losses, I'll draw another card." Kaiba did so, and smirked. "I'll discard it to the effect of Ultimate Dragon's Sanctuary as well, boosting my dragon to a titanic 9900! End it with Shining Neutron Blast!"

The powerful dragon screeched loudly and opened its jaws, causing a sphere of rainbow energy to come pouring out. After a moment, the dragon then shot the powerful sphere of rainbow energy straight at the weaker sphinx. The blast struck the hybrid, making it roar loudly in pain as it's body was turned into dust. Within a few seconds, Thenien was finally shattered, allowing the remainder of the dragon's blast to go flying at Anubis. The blast struck him hard, throwing him into the air a short ways backwards.

Kaiba was laughing in a crazed manner. "You're done, Anubis! I've won."

Anubis struggled to his feet, cuts visible all over his body. Rage was written all over his face, but there was nothing he could do. He was still in the game, but he had only 700 life-points left, and now Kaiba had an uber-powerful monster on the field.

"You might as well surrender now," laughed Kaiba.

Anubis ignored him, and drew his next card, silently fuming at the loss of Thenien. Kaiba would pay. He grinned at the next card. "You're finished, Kaiba! I will end it with a true winning combo. I first play a magic card so powerful, that one could call it the magical equivalent to the Egyptian Gods. I play Infinite End! I may remove all cards in your graveyard from play, at the cost of granting you eight thousand life-points."

Kaiba was visibly shaken. He now had nine thousand life-points, but his Shining Dragon was down to its base three thousand attack points. Still, it was formidable, what with its immunities. "Now you are doomed, Kaiba. My finishing move! I activate Reversal of Worlds! If I have more than fifteen cards in my graveyard, we both switch our decks with our graveyards!"

Kaiba casually slid his deck into his graveyard slot, and froze. He had no graveyard to switch his deck with. Anubis was laughing heartily at this. "Perfect combo, isn't it? I removed your entire graveyard from play, and now you don't have a deck!"

Kaiba fell to his knees, silent screams echoing from his mouth. Anubis continued, "Ah well. Its been fun, but I've got things to do, people to kill. All I have to do is end my turn, and you lose from being unable to draw a card!"

"Impossible," whispered Kaiba. "Damn this…."

"All right then. I end my turn."

Anubis watched in triumph as Kaiba tried in vain to draw a card from his empty deck. The Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon began to disappear. But it didn't matter. Nothing else mattered. Anubis had defeated Seto Kaiba.

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**Boo-yah! Eat your heart out, Kazuki Takahashi! They would _never_ do something like that in the anime, eh? Marik has lost, and so has Kaiba! It's a ridiculous one a.m., so I'm not bothering with original cards. Metal Overlord 2.0, this is why Marik can't use Orochi. Anyway, thanks.**

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	30. Emperor's Return

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Emperor's Return

**Yeah, its finally up. The thirtieth chapter is year, plus, I've crossed one hundred and fifty thousand words.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Anubis is just too good for Kaiba. After all, he is Anubis. Plus, Dartz earned his victory against Marik. He had been dueling very well, in my opinion. He doesn't get his due. On the other hand, Yamata Orochi certainly seems like a fun card, if a bit difficult to use. I'll see if Anubis can't use it. Fallout, did, actually appear in the move. Look it up. Thanks.**

**Princess Yunariana: Yup, they both lost, and you'd better believe it. It gets vital to the plot.**

"OPEN UP!" roared Joey, incessantly kicking the door to Kaiba's room. Serenity stood by, tearful. "C'mon, Kaiba," grunted Tristan, slamming his shoulder into the door. It didn't give way. Yami snarled to himself. "Stand aside."

Joey and Tristan mutely did so. Standing perpendicular to the door about five feet from it, Yami let out a powerful blast of Shadow Magic in the direction of the door. The door was blown of its hinges, and the entire group rushed in. It was obvious that a Shadow Game had been played, as the eerie darkness was still clearing.

"ANUBIS!" roared Yami in rage. The God of Death, who had been staring at Kaiba up until then, turned to face his age old rival. "Pharaoh?" he smirked, surprised. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Anubis chuckled to himself. "Nothing much. Just caused some pain and suffering after, what? Five millennia? You should try it. Who knows, you might like it?"

Yami ignored him and activated his Duel Disk. "Come on, you coward! Duel me! Now!" Anubis shook his head in amusement. "You will get your chance to be crushed as well, Pharaoh. You will get it during the Tournament of Shadows. Since everyone else has neglected to enlighten you about it, I'll do the honors. It's a special tournament governed by rules that are beyond even my power. It works like a Shadow Game, but is far more deadly."

Yami eyed him distastefully, and spat, "Forget it, Anubis! I will face you now!" Anubis yawned and continued as if Yami hadn't said a word.

"There have only been four or five Tournaments of Shadows ever held in history. The rules were established by hundreds of entities, and only if one can top their combined power can one change the rules of a Tournament of Shadows. The rules are quite simple. Once you enter, you cannot leave. There will be a number of duels, and all the losers will have their souls imprisoned in the Shadow Realm. All the souls can be freed by the ultimate winner of the Tournament of Shadows. Other than that, there are no definite rules. But just remember, once you enter, you cannot leave." He chuckled quietly at his private joke, and placed a hand on Kaiba's unmoving body.

The two began to disappear. "Oh no ya' don't!" roared Tristan, and rushed forward, attempting to bludgeon the God of Death with his considerably strong fists. Anubis' disappearing eye raised an eyebrow, and a scowl spread across his face. The Pyramid of Light glowed, and fired a blast of blue energy in Tristan's direction. He froze as it hit him full on.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion up until then. Tristan was atomized. Not a single trace of him was left behind. No one did anything for a moment. Anubis then fully disappeared. All hell broke lose.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Seven sets of feet stopped as they reached the door to the atrium of the Empire State Building. Seven pairs of eyes stared at the destroyed atrium. One of the walls looked like it had been made of sandstone, and the faces of those who had lost their souls to the Orichalcos were displayed on it.

Once they crossed through that doorway they would be in for the fight of their lives. They had to be ready for it, or the world would suffer and die. It was the defining moment. They would defeat their enemies.

Yami, Joey, Tea, Kyle, Jaden, Alexis and Zane stood in a line across the room, observing the wreckage. It was as if a war had been fought in that very room. Suddenly, all eyes turned to the staircase, distracted by the repeated smack of one hand hitting the other.

Clapping.

A single figure was trotting down the steps, an amused smirk on the face. It wasn't Marik. It was Dartz. Yami's eyebrow arched in surprise, and immediately settled, leaving an angry growl across his face.

"Dartz," he spat. "What is this?"

The Lord of the Orichalcos shook his head, supremely disdainful, and continued his walk down the stairs, as if the interruption had never taken place.

Yami nodded to Joey, and their Duel Disks clicked into place. Dartz had finished his walk, and came to them, the smile still on his face.

"Let's end this," snarled Yami. "Then I can go on and deal with Marik and Anubis." Tea remained frozen to the spot. Out of the seven of them, only her and Yami had ever seen Dartz in person. The Pharaoh was too furious to remember their chilling encounter. Tea, however, remembered it all too well. She remembered how easily Dartz had disposed of Kaiba. She hated the thought of having her two best friends duel him.

"Marik?" chuckled Dartz. "Ah, I forgot. You didn't hear the news. He's been replaced. You are looking at the official leader of the bad guys club." Realization dawned on Yami's face.

"You betrayed him!" he gasped. "Takes a genius, doesn't it? The fool was overconfident. I'll admit that aside from my duel with you, it was the hardest I ever fought. Anubis didn't take very kindly to it, and vented out a bit of frustration on this room, before he realized that we were much better off without him. However, he's finished now. I completely destroyed him. His soul is residing within the Orichalcos. If you don't believe me, have a look."

He pointed to a single carving on the sandstone wall. Yami shook his head in disbelief. It was the face of Marik Ishtar. There was no way the magic of the Orichalcos could be fooled.

Regaining his composure, he shrugged. "No matter. You did part of my work for me. I still plan on dueling you and ending this madness right here and right now!"

Dartz laughed quietly. "Weren't you listening when Anubis was explaining the rules? Anubis and I are the two most powerful duelists in the Tournament of Shadows, and we must be defeated last. It was Marik's bright idea to set up this tournament before his untimely demise, and I just expanded on it. There will be five paths, up the two elevators, and different staircases. If you'll make it past the preliminary rounds, then you'll will make it to the more powerful duelists. The quarter finals if you will. From then on in, you might even end up dueling each other. Refuse to do so, and you will find yourself unable to escape. At the end of it, the survivors will reach Anubis and myself."

Yami nodded grimly. Even he could not disobey the rules of a Tournament of Shadows, which was like a Shadow Game on a much larger scale. As much as he hated it, it was necessary for them to follow Dartz's instructions. After all, it was their only hope of defeating the two remaining psychopaths, Dartz and Anubis.

"I accept," he spat.

"Excellent," chuckled Dartz. "May the Tournament of Shadows commence!"

Morbid laughter echoed through the air as his Orichalcos stone glowed. He waved lightly as he disappeared in pixels of light.

Yami looked at the troupe of duelists grimly. "Well, its all about survival. I would ask you to wait here while I go in and deal with them both myself, but you aren't exactly going to obey that."

Jaden chuckled. Yami marveled at how the boy was able to maintain a sense of humor even in such a situation. Losing Kaiba had been a hard blow, and although Tristan wasn't even a decent duelist, his death had taken a toll on all of them.

"Fine. He said there were five paths, so I guess that some of us go alone, and the others form groups. I suggest that myself, Joey, and Zane go separate ways, being the strongest duelists. Kyle, you can go with Alexis, and Jaden, go with Tea."

Nobody seemed to have any objection to this. It was hard, going separate ways. Yami and Joey, who were the most serious, grimly shook hands. Kyle and Tea shared a quick hug, and Zane quietly bade Jaden and Alexis goodbye. He turned and silently walked up one of the flights of stairs.

Alexis gave Jaden a swift kiss on the cheek, and walked into one of the elevators with Kyle. Joey closed his eyes and spoke quietly to the remaining duelists. "Be seeing ya' guys. Yuge… don't you dare lose. I wanna' be dere' when I see ya' taking out dose' punks, Dartz and Anubis." He entered another elevator, leaving only Yami, Tea, and Jaden. They sympathized with him. After all, he had been forced to leave Serenity behind. She was by no means a skilled duelist, and would be torn apart during the first duel.

The Slifer Red moved away, giving them privacy.

Yami nodded, knowing that it was not him that Tea wished to speak to. There was a glow, and the Pharaoh reverted back to Yugi Moto, the soft-spoken, friendly boy whom Tea had befriended all those years ago. He gave her a sad smile. "I didn't want this to happen."

"Neither did I. But I guess at this point we all have to make sacrifices."

Yugi's eyes met hers. "Life is about sacrifices." They were silent for a moment. "I should get going…." whispered Tea. Yugi numbly nodded. Trying to hide the tears in her eyes, Tea turned around and followed Jaden up one of the staircases.

There was a flash once again, and the smiling, sad Yugi Moto was replaced by the angry, cold, grim Yami. "_We won't be able to beat them again unless we combine our strengths to eliminate our weaknesses. The time for us to become one, like we have in the past, is near_," said Yugi through their mental link.

Yami answered coldly. "_True. But the time for battle is now_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tea and Jaden silently continued up the stairs, until they had reached the fifth floor. A ghostly chuckle echoed through the corridor, and a man walked into it, a grin spread across his face. He was short, bespectacled and unshaven. His limbs seemed stubby, and he wore a duelist on one arm. He wore a sweater vest.

Tea raised an eyebrow coldly. "Move out of the way, stubby. We're not here to duel you."

A look of rage crossed the short man's face. "DON'T CALL ME STUBBY! I **HATE **IT! MY NAME IS ARNOLD!" He spoke with a British accent.

"Whatever you say, stubby. Get out of our way," said Tea in a voice of steel. "I WAS GOING TO CHALLENGE THAT KID, BUT YOU ARE ASKING FOR IT, GIRLY! LET'S DUEL!"

Jaden laughed. "Hey listen, _Arnold_. You seem really confident for a guy in a sweater vest." Instead of bursting into another outburst, Arnold's chest swelled with pride. "Young man… I come from Cambridge. Sweater vests are a symbol of intelligence and competence there."

Tea activate her Duel Disk. "Are we going to get the duel started or are we going to have to listen to you continue to prattle on about the way nerds function?" Jaden was shocked. From what little time he had spent with Tea, he knew that she wasn't the kind to insult people like that.

"YOU'RE ASKING FOR IT, GIRLY!" His Duel Disk activated, and the holo projectors burst out.

(Arnold: 8000, Tea: 8000)

Arnold considered his opening hand with the precision of a professional mathematician. "I activate the field spell Princeton University!" Tea almost laughed. She had been expecting the Seal all along. This was truly going to be an amusing duel.

A large building sprung up behind him. It had many carvings all over it, and large archway for a door. One could see the large number of bookshelves inside.

Tea heard Jaden cracking up on the sidelines, and allowed herself a brief grin. "Next I summon Oxford Scholar – Math Freak (1800/800)!" The new monster was a true nerd. He was dressed in tight clothes, without a single crease. He held a book in one hand, and a calculator in the other.

Tea scoffed. "I see. He's a nerd. Any other point you wanna prove?" Arnold was boiling over with rage. "NERDS WILL BE YOUR END!" Calming down, he adjusted his glasses. "I activate Math Freak's effect, allowing me pay a thousand life-points to special summon another scholar from my deck or hand as long as Princeton University is active! Meet Yale Graduate (1900/1300)!"

Tea raised an eyebrow as another monster made it to the field, walking out of Princeton haughtily. He was also dressed in a graduation suit, and carried a scroll in one hand. Scowling at Tea, he began to read the scroll. Suddenly Yale Graduate's attack points increased to twenty-one hundred, and Oxford Scholar was up to two thousand. Arnold smirked deviously. "Every scholar gains two hundred attack points for every other scholar on the field."

Tea shrugged. "Two heads are definitely better than one. The same can't be said for two nerds." "THEY'RE NOT NERDS, THEY ARE SCHOLARS!"

Tea ignored him. Arnold angrily ended his turn.

(Tea: 8000, Arnold: 7000)

Tea drew, and chuckled. "I activate Spell Absorption, which grants me five hundred life-points every time a magic card is activated. Next I play Solemn Wishes, granting me another five hundred life-points every time I draw a card." Her life-points immediately shot up to 8500.

"Hmmm…. Next comes Pot of Greed, granting me another fifteen hundred life-points." "A life-point gain deck, eh?" chuckled Arnold. "Not very reliable."

If looks could kill, Tea would have been dancing on Arnold's grave. "Just watch me. I'm about to end this duel here and now. Next I play Spell Reproduction, discarding two Repayment of Losses to bring back Pot of Greed. Since Repayment of Losses lets me draw a card when it's sent to the graveyard, I gain another load of life-points."

It was true. She was up another twenty-five hundred life-points. Arnold looked at her stupidly. The duel had barely begun, and she was fifty-five hundred life-points up. Tea continued, a smile spreading across her face. "I play Avatar of the Pot (1200/1300)." A muscular genie who had the Pot of Greed as a head sailed onto the field, flexing his impressive biceps.

"I activate his ability, allowing me to discard Pot of Greed to draw three cards." Arnold gaped again. She drew her three cards, putting her at fourteen thousand life-points. "Time to end this. I activate Sanctuary in the Sky, blowing away Princeton University!"

Behind Tea rose up a massive temple set upon clouds, which completely shattered Princeton, inciting a groan from Arnold. The duelists watched as angels of various sorts flitted in and out of this sanctuary.

"Next I play Heaven's Gift! By sacrificing a three star or less angel from my field, I can summon an angel whose level is equal to twice the sacrificed monster, from my deck! Now I shall introduce you to one of the strongest angels I possess. Rise Agent of Judgment - Saturn, (2400/0)!" The newest angel in Tea's arsenal had purple skin and purple wings which he kept partially folded. The angel was male, and wore a white rob that descended past his feet. The center of the robe was a blue color, and around his neck he wore a symbol of wings with teeth descending from it, at the center of this pendant was a ruby. Upon the angel's head was some kind of fancy helm.

"Impressive," sneered Arnold. "But all you can do is attack one of my scholars. I don't see him winning any game this turn." Tea's eyes shone. "True, very true. In fact, Heaven's Gift forces me not to attack with Saturn. However, I can still activate his effect!"

Arnold's eyes widened as the angel before him wrapped its wings around itself and started to glow a deep purple color. "By sacrificing my monster with Sanctuary of the Sky on the field I can inflict damage to your life points equal to the difference between ours, if of course my life points are higher. So this is the end. Saturn, Final Judgment!"

The angel's wings swung wide and the purple aura exploded off of its body, consuming the two duelists in the purple light. The bright nova subsided moments later, leaving the end in its wake. For Tea had defeated Arnold on her first turn, without a single attack. She scoffed and deactivated her Duel Disk. Arnold lay on the floor, barely moving. He had been knocked over by the attack, and the reality of it couldn't reach him.

As she walked by negligently, he stared at her in shock and wonder. Jaden too, was awed by Tea's performance. "Sweet…" he muttered to himself as they continued to climb.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Don't move," said Kyle from the corner of his mouth. Alexis rolled her eyes. She really disliked Kyle, and the feeling was completely mutual. She found his arrogance irritating, and he hated her for the fact that her boyfriend knocked him out of the tag-team duel.

But his instincts had been true. A couple of people had been lurking around the corridor. Shifting Alexis behind the wall, his eyes glanced over the men. They weren't holding weapons. Which meant they were essentially duelists. Which meant that they were essentially going to lose.

He took a grim step forward and said loudly, "Good evening, gentlemen. I'll be your tour's guide for tonight's trip to hell. Call me Grave." The two duelists' head swiveled in his direction. One of them snarled angrily. Their faces came into sharp view.

One of them was female, and wily blonde hair hung over her shoulders. Her eyes showed crazed madness. The other, too, had a strange look in his eyes, and looked similar to the woman.

"So…. You wish to challenge the Sasuke siblings?" hissed the woman. Her Duel Disk clicked into place. "My master Dartz will bring Paradise to Earth. You may attempt to stop him."

"But know this," chuckled her brother. "RESISTANCE IS USELESS!"

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Gotta name, bub?" The boy nodded. "Jan. Why? You gotta problem?" "Nope," muttered Kyle, firing out his holo projectors. "I just wanted to know what I'll have to etch on your gravestone when I'm done with you."

Jan's eyes bulged. "C'mon Karen. We'll show this kid whose kings here."

"Excuse me?" said Alexis, narrowing her eyes. "You speak as if I'm not there."

"Go on," pressed Jan. "But you don't get it. RESISTANCE IS USELESS!"

(Alexis: 8000, Karen: 8000, Kyle: 8000, Jan: 8000)

Alexis observed her hand. "I activate Polymerization, fusing Ice Queen of the Night (2300/2000) with Blade Skater (1400/1500) to summon my powerful Cyber Night Empress (2900/2400)!" The two monsters were sucked into a vortex, only to be replaced by a tall woman. She was clad in shining armor, and lifted her head to look at Jan and Karen coldly.

"Next I play the field spell Luminous Spark, granting all light monsters a bonus 500 attack points, at the cost of 400 defense points." She smirked at Jan's cry of disappointment as the Cyber Night Empress' ATK increased to 3400, stronger than a Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"With that, I'll end my turn."

Karen looked at her next card. "Hmm…. I summon Hellfire Beast (2000/1000)!" A wolf-like monster appeared, but seemed to be made completely off green fire. "Since none of us can attack until each duelist has had a turn, I'll end with a facedown."

Kyle could barely suppress a smirk as he drew. He was facing two amateurs, he could see it from their moves. "I summon Rapid Fire Magician (1600/1200)!" A magician dressed in red appeared, wielding a long staff. It lifted its blazing eyes to glare at the Hellfire Beast. "Next I play Magical Dimension, sacrificing my magician to special summon another spellcaster from my hand. Make way for the Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

The Rapid Fire Magician nodded at Kyle, and before it was to leave, it smirked and fired a blast from its staff at Jan, who cried in anger. "When I activate a magic card, Rapid Fire Magician deals you four hundred points of damage," explained Kyle diligently as the familiar, purple-robed sorcerer appeared on the field.

"Impressive," observed Jan. "Dealing me damage before I take my turn is not something to scoff at." Kyle ignored the praise. "I activate the second effect of Magical Dimension, allowing me to destroy your Hellfire Beast!" The Dark Magician nodded and fired a blast at the fiery wolf, obliterating it. Suddenly, Kyle clutched his chest in pain, gasping.

"I forgot to mention his effect," smirked Karen. "If you have two monsters on the field that are stronger than him, you lose life-points equal to his attack points." Kyle grunted, and heaved himself up. "No matter. I'll still win. End turn, for now."

(Alexis: 8000, Karen: 8000, Kyle: 6000, Jan: 7600)

"Nice opening hand," muttered Jan. "I set a monster in defense mode, with a facedown. End turn." The two brown-backed cards appeared. Every duelist had taken a turn. The action would start now.

Alexis glanced at her new card, and shook her wavy, attractive hair. "I activate Cyber Night Empress' effect, allowing me to summon level four or lower monster with the word 'cyber' in its name from my deck, to the field. I summon Ice Angelic Prince (1800/1500) in attack mode!"

A shining, white, handsome prince appeared, with two large wings. He held a scepter, and gave Alexis a dazzling smile. He turned back and gave Jan and Karen distasteful glares. "When he's summoned, it gains one ice counter for every other face-up monster on the field." A ball of ice appeared, floating above the Cyber Angelic Prince.

"Next I'll have Cyber Night Empress attack your monster! Blizzard of the Cosmos!" The tall woman raised her hands, and a gust of freezing wind shot towards the facedown monster. It flipped up, revealed to be the one thing Alexis dreaded: a Man Eater Bug (450/600).

The massive bug leapt up and jumped onto its attacker. It was about to bite down and take its attacker with it, when Alexis smirked, and revealed, "I can sacrifice my prince's ice counter to negate a targeting effect. Meaning your bug is dead." Jan snarled as the bug exploded.

"Ice Angelic Prince, direct attack!" Jan laughed as the seraphim-like monster bombarded him with a powerful wave of ice. "Activate Amazing Arachnids! I'm afraid my your prince is no match for my spiders!"

Alexis yelped as a number of spiders popped up from the ground and latched onto the beautiful monster. It struggled in vain, and gave Alexis a sad smile before exploding. "By discard Amazing Arachnids, as well as another card, I can destroy an attacking monster and deal you damage equal to its attack points!"

Alexis groaned and ended her turn.

(Alexis: 6200, Karen: 8000, Kyle: 6000, Jan: 7600)

Karen drew. It was best to play it safe. After all, the enemy was very strong. Soon, the fools would fall into her trap, and she would finish them. "I set a card facedown and a monster in defense mode."

Kyle drew angrily. He wasn't looking to waste time here. All he wanted was to end the duel then and there. He grinned at his new card. "I activate Graceful Charity, immediately drawing three cards to discard two." He chuckled at his next card.

"I activate Monster Reborn, to revive the Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900) I just discarded!" The new monster was similar to the Dark Magician, except it was more heavily covered, and its robes were a black color with red trim. Its staff was also black with a glowing red jewel imbedded in it.

"Hmm…. I activate the magic card, Dedication Through Light and Darkness, sacrificing my Dark Magician to summon one of my most powerful magicians! The Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!" The Dark Magician disappeared. A fiery pentagram formed on the field a slowly a mage in black tight fitting armor rose up through the flames. His blue skinned slightly gleamed in the flames, and his eyes were closed shut. He opened his eyes, to reveal flaming pupils. He then took his powerful staff in his hand and swung it out, making the flames on the field instantly disappear.

Jan was amused. "Impressive." He had two very powerful magicians on the field at the same time.

"Next I activate my chaos mage's special ability, allowing me to get back another card from my graveyard. I choose Monster Reborn, which I play to revive my other discarded spellcaster, the Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!" A pretty blonde in light blue and pink spun out onto the field, striking a cute pose before thrusting her curled staff into the air.

Jan rolled his eyes. "If you're done with that summoning frenzy, I will take my turn. After all, RESISTANCE IS UELESS!"

"Oh no. This is, in fact, just the beginning. The worst, the worst for you that is, is yet to come. You see, I sacrifice my Chaos Command Magician and Dark Magician Girl. I'm gonna summon one of the most dreaded and powerful spellcasters in the entire game of Duel Monsters. Everybody had better prepare themselves. It requires sacrifices of two level six or higher magicians."

A huge black fire arose and consumed Chaos Command Magician and Dark Magician Girl...

"Come forth, master of dark magic!" yelled Kyle. "I summon you now...SORCEROR OF DARK MAGIC (3200/2800)!!"

Then, out of the huge black fire, a new monster stepped forward: He was a tall magician dressed completely in black, with a long flowing cape and a huge black staff. Lightning crashed all around him. He then pointed his staff at them, as if preparing to blast them with his dark magic. Alexis gazed in awe. This monster was an extremely rare, very powerful monster. She had no idea how Kyle could've gotten it.

Jan stood there frozen, as a maniacal grin spread across Kyle's face. "Go ahead, tell me how useless resistance is. I've got three mega-powerful spellcasters on the field, with a combined total of over eight thousand attack points. What do you have? Nothing, I believe. You, Jan, seem like the more annoying of the two. Plus, you use insects. I hate bugs, and so does the lady over there. So, tootles. TRIPLE DARK MAGIC ATTACK!"

The three mages nodded, and all stared directly at Jan, who began to shiver. They crossed their staffs, and a flux of black energy appeared. With a simultaneous battle-cry, they heaved their staffs downwards. The Dark Magic Attack, Chaos Scepter Blast, and Celestial Blast Attack all sped hurtled towards Jan. He cried in terror as they hit him full on, knocking him off his feet. The force was more than he could take. His top had been burnt off, leaving scars and bruises all over his body.

"_Jan_? JAN?" cried Karen. There was no answer. She turned back and glared at Kyle. "YOU KILLED HIM!" "I am no murderer," he spat back. "He's unconscious, that's all."

"YOU LITTLE PIECE OF CRAP! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER! YOU WILL PAY!" A crazed look entered her eyes. "_And I'll start with your little girlfriend_."

Kyle made a show of sticking his hands into his mouth and puking. "Please. There is no way in hell I would even consider dating her. Sure, she's quite the looker (Alexis flushed at this), but she already has an idiot for a boyfriend. Besides, she's not my type. On the other hand, people like your doofus brother and yourself are my type to squash like bugs. He claimed to be a freakin' duelist! He lost before he took his second turn. Man, I hope you are better than that nut."

(Alexis: 6200, Karen: 8000, Kyle: 6000, Jan: 0)

Since Jan was out, the turn automatically passed to Alexis. She drew, eying the vicious look in Karen's eyes. "I attack you directly with Cyber Night Empress!" Karen gritted her teeth as she was hit full on by the powerful attack, reducing her life-points to 4700. The game was as good as won now.

Karen drew, the mad look never leaving her eyes. "Oh yes…. I activate Enemy Controller, allowing me to pay a thousand life-points to steal or destroy a monster on your field. I choose to take your Cyber Night Empress!" The female monarch twisted and turned in agony as a mysterious force attempted to pull it over to Karen's field. Finally, it gave in.

"Then I play the card to doom you: the Seal of Orichalcos!" Holding up the powerful card, she opened her Duel Disk's field card slot and stuck the card within. Instantly, the seal spread across the field. The usual six pointed star formation then formed on the darkness.

The Orichalcos symbol appeared on the saintly woman's forehead, boosting her ATK to 3400! Alexis groaned. Now her light monsters wouldn't gain their bonus. "Empress, blast his Sorcerer!" The Empress began gathering blue energy in her hands, crying out in fury as it propelled the powerful attack in the direction of its powerful opponent.

Kyle screamed out in protest as the Sorcerer of Dark Magic raised its staff in defense. A sphere of protective blue energy appeared around him. It stopped the blast for a while, but it was merely a display. He was obliterated.

Karen laughed maniacally through the clearing dust. "You fools! There is no way you can defeat me! For now, I set one card facedown and end my turn. But remember, the end is near!"

Kyle drew heavily as the angelic queen returned to her mistress. He glared at Karen. "This ends now! Dark Magician of Chaos, attack her directly!" She gave a hollow laugh as she activated her facedown card.

"Go, Chaos Barrier Shield!" A shield of a thousand faucets of light and darkness appeared in front of Karen. The Chaos Mage's attack struck it, and rebounded: straight towards the Dark Magician. It struck him full on, immediately destroying him.

Kyle yelled in protest. "What the hell was that?" "Chaos Barrier Shield can only be activated if my opponent's strongest monster attacks directly. I can redirect the attack to your weakest monster. In this case, that puny magician." Kyle snarled as his life-points reduced to 5700. He had lost a good advantage. All he had left was the Dark Magician of Chaos.

"I….. end my turn."

Alexis drew worriedly. Immediately, Karen laughed. "I activate the effect of Hellfire Shadow (2500 + 500 3000/2300) from my hand! If my opponent has two or more monsters with over twenty-five hundred attack points, I can automatically special summon from my hand." A morbid howl echoed through the field, and fiery beast appeared on Karen's field. It didn't seem to have any particular shape, but its power did not go unnoticed. Even Alexis's Cyber Night Empress was impressed by its blazing wrath.

Alexis gave Kyle a worried look. It was more powerful than either of their monsters. Kyle glanced back at her, and gave her a reassuring smile. She forced one in return. Although she was two years older, he had the air of a commander. The experience of the short time they had been left alone had left her with a little more respect for him than before. She still thought he was an obnoxious brat, but he was a deadly duelist, and overall, a nice guy. Although it didn't mean she intended on dumping Jaden.

Before Alexis could make her move, Karen laughed. "My Hellfire Shadow gains two hundred attack points for every Hellfire monster in the graveyard." This put it at thirty-two hundred. While not obscenely strong, it was far more powerful than normal monsters.

Alexis examined her hand. "Too bad your Hellfire Shadow won't be staying for long! I play Avalanche Destruction, allowing me to destroy my opponent's strongest monster!" The Empress raised her hands and with a battle-cry from her, ice came tumbling in the direction of the new monster.

Karen gave a shrill laugh. "Do you think my Hellfire Shadow is so easy to kill? Stupid girl! By removing a Hellfire monster from play, I can negate a targeting effect." The soul of the Hellfire Beast appeared and with a howl, dived into the avalanche and with an explosion, destroyed the ice. Alexis snarled. Her best chance had been negated.

"I switch Cyber Night Empress to defense mode, and call it a turn with a facedown." It was quite frustrating, as her monster was only a hundred points weaker than the Hellfire Shadow.

Karen snapped the next card off her deck. She shrieked. "Its over for you, kid! I activate Card Destruction!" Kyle gasped as he discarded he nervously discarded his hand. This meant Karen had discarded more Hellfire monsters, meaning her Shadow would be even stronger.

"I discarded only one, but that once again puts it at thirty-two hundred. But no matter. I activate Megamorph, doubling my Shadow's base ATK to five thousand, giving him a grand total of fifty-seven hundred attack points!" The Shadow began to absorb darkness from the surrounding area, and with a shriek, its attack points exploded. Kyle gasped. 5700?

"Then I activate the effect of my discarded monster, Hellfire Soldier (1700/1600). When its in the graveyard, I can choose to send from my deck to the graveyard any four monsters, and I can double the ATK of any one monster on my field, but I must pay two thousand life-points for the combination of effects!"

Alexis looked down so that her eyes were being covered by her hair. This put her monster at 11800, more than enough to take out Kyle. Then she would be alone, and Karen could slowly defeat her. There was no way she would win alone.

Karen grabbed her chest in pain as her life-points went down to a mere 700. On the other hand, the Hellfire Shadow's strength had reached enormous levels. Kyle looked her directly in the eye. He attempted to retain his calm demeanor, but in the end, nothing could hide the fear in his eyes. All this while, Kyle had kept a strong, cold exterior to fit in with the others. But now, he was revealing what he truly was: a scared boy who couldn't hide his fear.

Karen was practically squealing with delight. "NOW, HELLFIRE SHADOW, ATTACK HIS DARK MAGICIAN OF CHAOS!" The monster seemed only too happy. It raised two strips of darkness that could have been called arms. Hellfire seemed to form on them, and with a howl, it blasted the attack in the direction of the Chaos Mage.

"I can't let that happen!" yelled Alexis. "I activate my facedown card. I activate my facedown card, Shift, changing the target of your attack to my Cyber Night Empress. Since she's in defense mode, no damage is done!"

"You're sorely mistaken, foolish girl," snarled Karen. "Activate my facedown trap card, Meteorain, which gives it trample, allowing it to do damage through defense."

Even as Kyle yelled, "_**NO**_!", the fiery attack of Karen's monster hit the Cyber Night Empress. Alexis gave him a serene smile through the darkness. He could barely make out her saying the words… "Tell him I love him."

That was it. There was a huge explosion as the Empress burst apart. Alexis' life-points trickled away to zero, and she fell to the ground, the expression fading from her face. The inner circle of the Seal began to contract around her, even as Karen laughed madly. "Idiotic wench…. She stood no chance against me! You will follow too."

Kyle had been oddly silent. When he looked up, he spoke in a voice so cold that it even sent shivers down Karen's spine. "_You. Will. Pay. Alexis was innocent. I am going to cut you up into little pieces_." It was as if the Devil himself had entered this brash young man.

Karen attempted a scoff. "I end my turn."

Kyle drew with the deliberate slowness of someone who enjoyed tormenting his victim. "I play the Card of Sanctity, increasing my options." Karen chuckled. "It gives me more to work with as well. You are truly a fool."

Kyle ignored her. "Hmmm….. I activate Mystic Summoning! By removing from play two spellcasters, I may summon another from my hand. Meet Light Magician (2500/2100)!" The new monster looked exactly like the Dark Magician, except it was dressed in white robes. Its staff was yellow instead of green.

"I removed from play Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. I now activate Dimension Fusion, paying two thousand life-points to revive them." The familiar spellcasters appeared in all their glory, giving Karen cold looks.

"Impressive, but useless," snarled Karen, who was growing annoyed by Kyle's nonchalance. "Next I play Monster Reborn, to revive my Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900)!" The mage reappeared, dressed in shining green robes.

"Finally, I equip Dark Magician of Chaos with United We Stand, placing him at sixty-eight hundred." All five spellcasters crossed their staffs, and energy flowed into the mighty chaos monster. He was truly strong, but still 5000 short of his opponent.

"Hopeless, hopeless," cackled Karen. She seemed to be prancing around maniacally. Kyle gave her a disgusted look. "Get a life, would you? It ends now. I play Pump Up, doubling my Chaos Mage's ATK for the turn."

Karen fell silent as the Dark Magician of Chaos closed his eyes. Massive energy flowed into him as he reached an incredible level of power. As he opened his eyes, the others looked at him in awe. The power he radiated come off in waves. He was like the God of Magicians.

"END IT NOW! CHAOS SCEPTER BLAST!"

At last, the mage had enough power to finish the job. He then took aim with his staff and fired a powerful blast of dark energy at the Shadow, who stood his ground and didn't do a thing as he was hit by the powerful blast. The blast engulfed the Shadow completely on contact and yet there was no reaction from the mindless creature, who just stood there like a statue still till he was finally obliterated.

Karen then felt the backwash of the blast as it struck her, making her fall to her knees. Her final life point then ran out, thus ending the duel. As he fell to her knees and her life points had run out, her eyes seemed to change.

She stared in silence at the Seal closing in around her. She looked at a stony-faced Kyle, and spoke softly. "I don't think I deserve your pity. No, I took her soul. I don't. But please, I didn't have a choice."

"We always have a choice," spat Kyle as his monsters disappeared.

"Not when he's involved."

"Whose _he_?" Karen let a tear fall from her eye onto the ground. "The man behind all this. Dartz."

She fell to the ground, soulless. Kyle's face was hidden by his hair. He spoke coldly and emotionlessly on looking up. "_I'm coming for you Dartz. When I do, I'll end this mindless suffering. You're dead._"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Jaden and Tea had made it to the twelfth floor. They hadn't encountered anyone. "There's no one to duel," complained Jaden. He was almost bored. The eerie darkness made his yawn. Plus, he was really hungry.

"That can easily be remedied." The voice sounded like it came from someone who had ice water in place of blood. Jaden froze. He could never forget that voice. _Never_.

"Show yourself, Darren Hirugashi."

**There you have it. The last chapter in the story with any humor. I hoped the nerd deck was entertaining. Too lazy to list the original cards, as usual, lol. I will, of course, say that Repayment of Losses belongs to my friend, Seeker of the Soul.**

**Anyway, I was hoping to finish the story before the one-year anniversary on the twenty-ninth of November, but it looks doubtful. There are at least ten more chapters. Instead, I'll give you guys a mega chapter as a present.**

**Anyway, please review! I think this is enough of an landmark to warrant at least five reviews! I get an average of a 150 reads a chapter, and about two reviews! **


	31. Funeral for a Friend

CHAPTER THIRTY: Funeral for a Friend

**I'm back in a relatively short period of time, which means you guys get a relatively short chapter.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Well, the nerd deck was a bit of fun, but the Hellfire deck is something I'm going to get serious with later in the sequel. I think Anubis can use Orochi, and I will definitely explain it all and give you credit for its creation. Anyway, thanks for the comments.**

**Princess Yunariana: Glad you liked it.**

**BEWK: Thanks, bud.**

"I almost thought you'd forgotten me," sighed Darren dramatically. The sound of his heels hitting the metallic staircase echoed through the silence as he stepped down the staircase. He was dressed in usual black, trench coat. He had left the sunglasses behind, and his chilling green eyes reflected a lifetime of crime. The DD3 he used was clipped onto his right arm.

"I'll take care of this," growled Tea, taking a step forward.

Jaden shook his head. "I'll finish this. You beat the nerd." "Oh, you passed Arnold?" asked Darren in mock surprise. "I always warned him that such a deck wouldn't be adequate."

"You aren't someone to show off," snarled Jaden, activating his Duel Disk. "I obliterated you in our last duel."

"_Did you_?" smirked Darren. "I did! My Winged Kuriboh LV 10 took care of your King of Skull Servants, hitting you for fifty-five hundred points of damage!" "Well, technically, you won, but hey, I am actually the better duelist."

"What do you mean?" hissed Jaden. "No time for friendly conversation between enemies, eh? Ah well, I'll fill you in. I really despised you the first time I saw you. A real twit, you are. If you lost then and there, it wouldn't be enough. I wanted you to suffer. In fact, I'll get my chance now. Before that, I'll let you know that I had a quick-play spell card in my hand called Wish of Final Effort, which would add my King of Skull Servants' ATK to my life-points, effectively negating all damage. My other card was Monster Reborn, which I could've used to revive my monster with. That would have ended the game."

Jaden was silent. "Then why did you not do it?"

"I told you, I wanted you to be a broken man when I beat you. In fact, I've got the right news for you now. Your girlfriend is done for."

Jaden froze. "Alexis?" "Who else? She was beaten by one of my comrades, not ten minutes ago. However, some kid beat her conqueror. I'm afraid that she'd be very unhappy to know that it was some random guy, and not her _boyfriend_ who avenged her."

But there was no answer. Jaden was looking at the ground, completely silent. "Alexis….. is gone?"

"That's putting it loosely, kid. She'll never be back." Jaden looked up. Darren expected sadness and despair in his eyes, but he certainly didn't expect to see such savage vehemence in the teenager's eyes. "_I will kill you_."

Tea gave him a worried look. He looked like he was about to snap. Darren laughed as hard as he could. "My, my…. Young love. So strange, when you have so much potential bloodlust. Well, let's get the duel started, shall we?"

Jaden ignored the banter, and activated his Duel Disk.

(Darren: 8000, Jaden: 8000)

"I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400) in attack mode," bristled Jaden. A man dressed in a space-age style of armor, painted blue and yellow appeared in a burst of electricity. He had flared wings on his back, a helmet obscuring his face, and electricity coursing over his entire body.

Darren wasn't impressed. "You'll have to do better than that if you wish to defeat me."

Jaden ignored him, and spat, "I set a card facedown and end my turn."

Darren idly glanced over his hand. "I summon Tourken the Blizzard Prince (1800/1200) in attack mode." A man in slender, pale blue armor appeared in front of him. He carried a silver-blade, and his chest plate was decorated with a silver crest.

Jaden simply sneered at this. "You won't be sneering when I activate this next card, Yuki! Activate Heir's Ascension, which allows me to sacrifice a prince from my field to special summon a true monarch from my deck! I sacrifice Tourken to summon Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (2400/1000)!"

Replacing the blue armored man was a new figure in thick white armor. He wasn't quite tall, but each section of his body was rather large. Extending from his back was a rack of spines that crackled with electricity. As he landed on the field, the spines on his back began to vibrate with an unusual amount of power. He let lose a roar, and fired a blast of electricity in the Sparkman's direction. As it was hit by the wave of lightning, and incinerated immediately on contact.

"Unfortunately for you," leered Jaden. "My facedown Martyr's Sacrifice activates. When a normal Elemental Hero is destroyed in any other method besides battle, I may special summon another level four or lower E-Hero from my deck. Meet Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000), in defense mode."

A white winged man appeared, covered in green feathers. He lay crouched in front of Jaden, his arms crossed in a defensive stance. Darren sneered. "What a pathetic creature. Zaborg will make short work of it with his Aeon Lightning!"

Holding his arms in front of him with his palms facing up, Zaborg channeled energy from the spines into his hands until he held two balls of active lightning. Thrusting his arms forward, the two blasts joined into one attack, it flew in the direction of the small hero. "Idiot," chuckled Jaden wickedly. "If the monster summoned through Martyr's Sacrifice was weaker than the original monster, it is immune to destruction in battle for this turn."

Avian was fried by the oncoming attack, but through some miracle, was able to maintain his presence on the field. Darren shrugged, and ended his turn with a facedown.

Jaden drew, and sneered at Darren. "Activate field magic card, Skyscraper!" All at once, tall buildings sprouted out of the ground all around, and lights began to flash in all directions, revealing the city in its glory.

"Jackass," laughed Darren. "It won't help you. The effect grants your heroes a thousand extra attack points while attacking a stronger monster. However, your Avian can't take down my monarch even with a bonus."

"It seems you know nothing about the true might of Elemental Heroes. I play Polymerization to fuse Avian with the Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (1200/800) in my hand to summon the powerful Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (2100/1200)!" A red garbed woman appeared, covered in crimson flames. She was sucked into a vortex along with the feathered man. The vortex went into overdrive. After it stabilized, revealing a figure with green skin, thick muscles, and a mask that appeared to be draconic. His right arm, instead of the muscular, green one with five clawed fingers that was on the left side, it had what appeared to be a black dragon head. From its back sprouted just one angelic wing.

Darren swore. At twenty-one hundred, it would be boosted to thirty-one hundred thanks to Skyscraper, more than enough to blast Zaborg into oblivion.

"Attack with Elemental Firestorm!" The hero nodded, and flipped into the air. Thrusting out its dragon arm, it fired a wave of black fire in Zaborg's direction, annihilating it. Darren snarled in rage. Suddenly, the Flame Wingman hit him in the chest with another ball of flame.

"When Flame Wingman destroys a monster, you lose life-points equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster." Darren grimaced as his life-points further dropped. "Since there's nothing much I can do, I end my turn."

(Jaden: 8000, Darren: 4900)

Darren snapped the next card off the top of his deck. "Hmm…. You know, most other monarch duelists only possess the five basic monarchs, Raiza, Zaborg, Mobius, Thestalos, and Granmarg. The five elemental kings. However, the elites like myself go far beyond such pathetic limitations. Watch, as I reveal one of the more powerful monarchs in Duel Monsters. I activate the effect of Caligo the Dark Monarch (2400/1000), allowing me to remove a prince and a monarch from play to special summon it from my hand. If it is summoned through this method, its effect does apply."

A new monarch appeared, dressed in black armor. He wore a hefty helmet, and leaned over on his huge arms to support himself. A massive cape flowed down his back, and there were two flashes of white on each shoulder. He looked up and growled at Jaden.

"When Caligo is summoned, you first must pick up cards from your deck until you reach a monster." Jaden snapped the top two cards off the top of his deck. He revealed the third to be Elemental Hero Bladedge (2600/1800).

"Since it's a level seven monster, Caligo forces you to discard the bottom seven cards from your deck." Jaden grimaced at this, but nonetheless did so. "Next I'll have Caligo obliterate your Flame Wingman. Black Horror!" The king raised his two hands, and with a cruel roar, he fired them a wave of darkness in the Flame Wingman's direction.

Jaden ignored the destruction of his monster even as Tea yelled, "No!" from the sidelines. "The simple destruction of one soldier never wins a battle," spat Jaden. "Even though Alexis is gone, I will avenge her and end this madness!"

"Brave talk, Yuki. Lets see if you have the guts to back it up. One card facedown. End turn."

(Jaden: 7700, Darren: 4900)

Jaden drew, and gave an eerie laugh. "I activate Miracle Fusion, which allows me to remove Elemental Heroes in my graveyard from play in order to summon their fused form. I remove from play Burstinatrix and Avian to summon their second fused form, Elemental Hero Phoenix Enforcer (2100/1200)."

The translucent images of both Avian and Burstinatrix appeared, and merged together. In a flash of light, a new monster was formed. It had a black torso, which was also covered in tendrils of purple. The tendrils continued down to cover its legs. It wore green gauntlets, and a looming helmet of the same color fitted neatly onto its head. Five massive claws erupted from its right hand, and it had wings just like Avian.

Darren grunted. Skyscraper would once again enable Jaden to blow away his monarch. "Attach with Eternal Explosion!" It grunted, and leapt forward, claws flashing. Its feet crashed into the much larger monarch's torso, and it buried its claws in the king's chest. Its attack points shot up to 3100. One explosion later, it was gone.

Jaden smirked, and ended his turn.

Darren drew. "Hmmm…. I summon Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500)." A purple horned fiend appeared on his field. He wore a golden cape, and glared at Jaden, showing a bunch of razor sharp teeth.

"Attack with Fiendish Claw!" It rushed forward and brought down its claws on the Phoenix Enforcer. "I also play Shrink, which reduces your monster's ATK to half its original value." The hero was about to gut its opponent, when it suddenly reduced in size, and its attack points fell to a thousand and fifty. The demon shrieked and dug its claws into the aerial warrior's chest. They were locked in that position for a moment, before the Phoenix Enforcer threw him off.

"Phoenix Enforcer cannot be destroyed in battle," smirked Jaden nastily.

Darren growled and ended his turn. God knew that he was going to beat this kid. And as long as Darren was alive, God wouldn't do a damn thing about it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami continued walking through the corridors and up staircases, the same, hard, determined look on his face. Somehow, this felt very different from all his other adventures.

Pegasus was a strange man, and an evil one at that. But in the end, he was redeemable. The same was for Dartz. In Battle City, the true Marik Ishtar had actually been able to overcome his dark side. The KC Grand Prix hadn't been that bad too, Zigfried von Schroeder was simply a strange businessman with an agenda. Not a cold-blooded murderer. As for Zorc, there was always the assurance that it had been done in the past.

But this… he was facing not one, but _two_ enemies at once. Anubis was an entity that would stick at nothing. One could _never _trust him. As for Dartz, Yami had long realized he wasn't facing the man himself. He was facing the Orichalcos.

But he had long resolved to purge the Earth of these evils. It had been created for life, not destruction and greed. Six billion innocents lived across the vast expanse of land and sea. Already, two had been taken. Yami bit his lip and growled as he remembered Tristan and Kaiba. He would avenge them.

He didn't bother to stop walking. "Come out, whoever you are…." he said coldly. A man walked out of the shadows, revealing himself. Yami raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't expecting you, of all people…. Arkana."

The man laughed. He was dressed in an extra-fancy red tuxedo, with floppy sleeves. A massive top hat was settled on his head, and he had a DD3 on his right arm. A black mask covered all of his face except the nose, eyes, ears, and mouth.

"Yes, I was lost in the Shadow Realm after you defeated me. However, Anubis himself brought me back. He is far more powerful than Marik, a master I am proud to serve. I will avenge myself against you, Pharaoh."

Yami gave an icy, incisive chuckle. "Whatever happened to Catherine?"

A snarl spread across Arkana's face. "I realized many things while experiencing the horror of the Shadow Realm! One was that love is nothing! It is a pathetic illusion that forces people to believe in dreams that are meant to never come true. Yes, weaklings like you continue to believe in such ridiculous things, while the strong look to power…"

Yami shook his head in disgust. "The mere fact that you were able to love before this showed me that there was some hope for you. I will not show you any mercy this time. I also warn you… Your Seal will be unable to contain my Shadow Game." Even as he spoke, tendrils of darkness began to accumulate around the two as the Puzzle glowed.

"Who says I'm using that pathetic Seal? A true duelist has no need for such uselessly broken cards! I will defeat you with my own skill!"

Yami was almost impressed.

(Yami: 8000, Arkana: 8000)

"I'm looking to finish this fast," snarled Yami. He allowed himself a brief smile at his hand. "I activate Black Luster Ritual, sacrificing Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850) to special summon my almighty Black Luster Soldier (3000/2500)!" A powerful warrior appeared, dressed in green and black armor. It held a shining sword and shield.

Arkana cackled. "Impressive, but not enough. Nowhere near enough!!!" He laughed manically. Yami cast him a disgusted look, and ended his turn.

Arkana drew. "I set a monster in defense mode, along with a card facedown, and end my turn." The expression on his face was growing crazier by the second.

Without a second thought, Yami pressed on. "Attack with Luster Blade!" The monster nodded, and tore across the field, unsheathing his sword. With a battle-cry, he sliced the card in half, which flipped over to be revealed as a young girl dressed in wizard's clothing, who had long blonde hair and carried a staff in her right hand.

She screamed in pain as the blade sliced through her, shattering her into millions of tiny pixels. "You destroyed my Apprentice Magician (400/800). A foolish move, by all counts. It lets me special summon a level two or lower spellcaster from my deck in facedown defense position." A facedown card appeared. Yami grimaced. He knew of this strategy.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Arkana snapped the top card of his deck. "Don't worry… my deck is different from last time. It has some newer, more powerful cards. I'll demonstrate this now! I sacrifice my facedown monster for Vampire Lord (2000/1500)!"

A caped man with blue hair, dressed in a sinister tuxedo, and with bats that were shining with electricity on their bodies from within his cape. He then threw his arms out and raised up his cape, and revealed bat-like wings growing form behind his shoulders. Yami snorted. "Its nowhere near as powerful as my soldier."

"Oh it will be… It will be, old fool. I activate the continuous spell card, Negative Energy, which doubles the original attack points of all my dark monsters as long as they are face up on the field! My Vampire Lord is now at four thousand, more than enough to crush your puny soldier. Attack with Night's Reign!"

Yami gasped as the Vampire Lord leapt forward and bit down on the soldier's neck. Yami grimaced as the zombie stuck its hand into his warrior's gut. There was an explosion, and it was followed by a feral screech from the Vampire Lord.

Arkana roared with laughter. "I end my turn."

(Yami: 7000, Arkana: 8000)

Yami snapped the next card of his deck. "I set a monster facedown in defense mode and a card facedown and end my turn." The hologram of a monster appeared.

Arkana drew his next card, bored. "Vampire Lord, attack!" Yami reacted quickly. "That's unacceptable… I activate Sakuretsu Armor, which destroys your zombie even while it attacks!" Plates of metal covered the facedown card. The Vampire Lord's dark flames bounced off the armor, and hit the original source. The Vampire Lord screamed in pain as it was shattered.

Arkana didn't seem worried. In fact, he chuckled quietly to himself. Yami gazed at him in boredom. "If you're done with the theatrics, just continue on. I have things to do."

"I end my turn. But don't worry, my monsters will rip you apart. For I am the Master of Magicians!"

Yami shook his head and drew. "I summon King's Knight (1600/1400)!" The bearded knight appeared, dressed in orange armor. He carried a perilously long sword, and was protected by a shield.

"Attack directly!" The king nodded, and leapt forward, his sword flashing. With a growl, he brought it down on Arkana's shoulder. The duelist was able to block it by raising his Duel Disk to take the brunt of the blow. Duelist and monster grappled for moment, before the King's Knight backed off. However, the damage had already been done.

"End turn," said Yami, narrowing his eyes.

(Yami: 7000, Arkana: 6400)

An obscene grin spread across Arkana's already crazed features as he drew. "Moto… this is the end! ACTIVATE SEAL OF ORICHALCOS!" Yami grimaced as the invincible field card spread across the ground. How was it that these guys always ended up drawing it so early in the duel? Why couldn't he draw the Winged Dragon of Ra in his first hand? Maybe it was the Idiot Protection Clause that helped these fools.

The Seal's symbol appeared on Arkana's forehead. "I see…. You expect me to be afraid of that pathetic field card that I've defeated innumerable times?" spat Yami. "I'll deal with you soon enough, and then your masters will pay."

Arkana ignored him and smirked. "According to the effect of Vampire Lord, he'll be special summoned right back to the field during my next Standby Phase if he was destroyed in any way except battle. Now he's back, and gets boosted by both the Seal and Negative Energy, putting him at a level of strength equal to Seto Kaiba's legendary Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

Yami grimaced as some of the dark fog rolled into the form of the Vampire Lord (4500/1500). This time, he had the green symbol of the Seal glowing on his forehead. "Now I activate Cost Down, discarding a card to reduce the level of all monsters in my hand by two. I choose to summon the almighty Magical Marionette (2000 + 500 2500/1000)!"

What seemed to be a jester dressed in robes of numerous colors immediately appeared. It held several strings which suspended a tiny blank-faced puppet that were armed with two knives each. Yami snarled. Arkana gave another psychotic laugh. "You see? It's completely hopeless! Luckily for you, he wasn't in play when I activated Negative Energy, so he stays at twenty-five hundred attack points. "

Yami ignored him. "Vampire Lord, exhibit your true strength and annihilate his pathetic King's Knight!" The Pharaoh braced himself as the Vampire Lord raced forward, and with an unearthly shriek, raised its right hand in an attempt to disembowel the King's Knight. Suddenly, a crowd of brown furballs with beady eyes appeared in its way.

"Kuriboh," growled Arkana, as the Vampire Lord plowed through the furballs, and disemboweled the King's Knight with a swipe of its clawed hand.

Yami allowed himself a brief smile. Kuriboh had saved him an innumerable number of times. Hopefully, he would now survive the rest of the duel and finish of Arkana.

"My Magical Marionette is still in play, and I'll have it attack you directly!" The puppeteer cackled, and extended its fingers in a creepy manner. The puppet at the end of its strings bounced towards Yami, and dealt him a glancing blow with each knife. He bit his lip, but forced himself to ignore the pain.

"I end my turn!"

(Yami: 4500, Arkana: 6400)

Yami drew, and grinned. "I activate Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two, effectively giving me an extra card." He examined his hand, and then made his next move. "I activate Monster Reborn to revive my Dark Magician from the graveyard!"

The familiar sorcerer, clad in purple armor and wielding his turquoise staff appeared and frowned at his opponents. Arkana wasn't impressed. "I see. You have retained your magician as well, from all those years ago. However, it is no match for either of my monsters. My Marionette gains a spell counter every time a magic card is activated. Now, it's at 2900."

Yami continued to ignore him. "Next I activate Pump Up, doubling his attack points for the duration of the turn." Arkana's heart missed a beat as he gasped in shock. The mighty mage (5000/2100) had more than enough power to beat either of his monsters (4500/1500) (3100/1000).

"Finally, I equip him with Diffusion Wave Motion, which allows me to a pay a thousand life points so that a level seven or higher spellcaster may attack every single monster on your field!" Arkana shook his head, as if he was willing himself not to believe what was happening.

"Dark Magic Attack!!" In a dramatic move, the Dark Magician took to the air. Extending his long, green staff, energy began to form around the jewel at the end. Throwing his arm forward, he let it all out in a massive wave of black magic, which raced towards Arkana's field. The Vampire Lord was the first to go. The incredible wave of power slammed into his torso, immediately decapitating him. The Magical Marionette put up an equally pathetic fight, attempting to throw its puppets in the way of the attack. However, it was incinerated with equal ease.

Arkana was angry. No, he was furious. "I WILL DEFEAT YOU!" he roared. Yami shrugged. "We'll see."

(Yami: 3500, Arkana: 2900)

Arkana drew and laughed. "This is the end for you! I activate Foolish Burial, which allows me to send a monster from my deck to the graveyard." Yami shrugged as Arkana did so. "Next I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Examining his new cards, Arkana slipped a card into his Duel Disk.

"Now I activate Premature Burial, paying eight hundred life-points to summon my _own_ Dark Magician (2500 + 500 3000/2100)!" He was a man with tan skin, shock-white hair, and was dressed in blood-red magician's robes with yellow trim. He also carried a wicked-looking green staff in one of his hands, and there was an insane expression on his face in the form of a toothy grin. It was nothing but a twisted mockery of its opponent.

Yami's Dark Magician frowned at the newcomer, and spat his contempt. His villainous counterpart allowed himself a haughty chuckle.

"Ironic, don't you agree?" smirked Arkana. "Once again our sorcerers face each other, but this time, mine will come out on the top. However, it is not my intention to use _him _against you. Oh no… I sacrifice him to summon a new monster, one _so _powerful that it will crush you with ease. I find myself doubting that even you possess it. Ladies and gents, prepare yourself for the greatest magician to ever perform, the Dark Eradicator Warlock (2500 + 500 3000/2100)!"

The Dark Magician vanished in a puff of smoke. Yami looked around uneasily, as his own mage tightened his grip on his staff.

The new monster looked like the regular Dark Magician, but its' robes were a maroon purple color, and a cape extending out of the back of his shoulders. His face had become much more demented-looking than before, and his staff had changed to that of a trident of sorts, glowing a bright purple color and having an orb with a dangerously bubbling liquid in the inside of it. He was very intimidating.

Arkana laughed insanely. "Here is one of my most powerful monsters!" As if to back up his master's claim, the warlock thrust his staff into the air. Electricity crackled all around it, momentarily blinding the Dark Magician. Yami glared at it in revulsion. "What the hell is that?"

"The Dark Eradicator Warlock is a Dark Magician consumed by genocide and revenge. It twisted him to the point where he couldn't revert, and he became something entirely different from a regular mage. He became a warlock, a warlock obsessed with pain and suffering! This will be demonstrated later. But now…. Obliterate his mage with Dark Magic Eradication!"

Arkana's monster grinned evilly, and lifted his staff into the air. With a shriek, it let loose a black, massive blast of lightning in the direction of the Dark Magician, who gave Yami a sad look, before raising his staff in defense. He let lose a barrage of small energy balls in the direction of the blast. They had no effect.

Yami could barely hear his favorite monster whispering, "I'm sorry…. Master." He fell to his knees in agony as the monster that contained the spirit of he who had been his best friend was destroyed.

Arkana roared with laughter. "Your pathetic monster is no more! I was always the Master of Magicians, and this has only gone on to prove that! Get up, so that I can knock you down again!"

(Yami: 2400, Arkana: 2100)

Yami pushed himself to his feat, and ripped the next card off his deck. He glared at Arkana. "I…. set one card facedown in defense mode. End turn."

Arkana drew and glanced at Yami. "Here's why my Warlock is truly the most powerful of all spellcasters! I activate Magical Blast, dealing you 200 points of damage for every spellcaster on my field. There's only one, but my monster's effect makes up for that. Every time either of us plays a normal spell card, he deals you a thousand points of damage, so say goodbye to that 1200 life-points!"

Yami gasped as the warlock raised its staff and let loose a devastating ball of black energy. It knocked him off his feet, but he struggled back again. "Now, attack his facedown monster." Yami growled in frustration as his Big Shield Gardna was obliterated.

"I end my turn."

(Yami: 1200, Arkana: 2100)

Yami picked the next card of his deck, glaring at Arkana. He grinned briefly. "I activate Card of Sanctity." He groaned as he was hit with another blast. Nevertheless, he drew his six cards. He grinned. "This is the end for you! I activate Endless Empowerment! At the cost of any number discards, I can reduce all damage done to me this turn to zero, and also increase my life-points by a thousand for each discard. I discard two cards, granting me two thousand life-points."

He sighed as his life-points were boosted to a more respectable twenty-two hundred. He smirked and then said, "I summon my Gemini Elf (1900/900)." A pair of dark elves dressed in blue, appeared on the field.

"I now play Spellcaster's Sacrifice! By sacrificing a spellcaster, as the name suggests, I can add its ATK and DEF to my life-points. It has an added effect. By removing every spellcaster in my deck from play, I can double my life-points on the top of that!"

Arkana snarled as Yami's life-points skyrocketed to 10000. He could easily weather three attacks from the Warlock now.

"This ends now! I activate Underworld Gem, which allows me to remove five cards in my graveyard from play to activate a magic card from either of our graveyards." He chuckled as the fading silhouettes of five cards appeared in the dark fog.

"I know just the one I want. I choose Monster Reborn, to revive the Winged Dragon of Ra (?/?) I just discarded!" Arkana froze as Yami triumphantly slapped the invincible God onto his Duel Disk. "_No, no, no!_" he panicked. "This can't be happening!"

"It is!" snapped Yami. (AN: The groovy opera music that normally plays when a god is summoned should apply now!)

A massive storm picked up, shoving both duelists backwards. As lightning bolts crashed down around them the massive sphere of Ra appeared on the field. Arkana remained silent as Yami chanted the ancient chant required to take Ra out of its sphere form and reveal its true form. It took under a minute for Yami to complete the chant, and allow Ra to open into its massive golden form.

It was a bird-like golden dragon. It seemed very machine-like, and it's two giant wings fanned out behind it. A blue sapphire was embedded in its forehead. Arkana fell to his knees. "_Not him_!" Yami shook his head, the anger almost seeming to disappear. "I'm afraid you must pay for your crimes Arkana. I pay all but one of my life-points to boost Ra's attack and defense points to an immeasurable amount!"

Ra (9999/9999) roared at Arkana. "Ra, end it now!" Everything seemed to slow down as the mighty god opened its mouth to unleash its awesome power. A ball of flame formed in its maw, and with an unearthly shriek, the divine flames were sent plummeting in Arkana's direction. They crashed into the Dark Eradicator Warlock, incinerating him with ease. They continued on to hit Arkana, throwing him against the wall of the Seal.

Even as the Seal contracted around him on one side, and the flames of Ra pressed on the other, Yami was sure he could hear the distinct cry of, "_Catherine_……"

Yet, he felt no remorse. These were scum, criminals who had thrown in their lot with Anubis. They deserved no mercy. His other side berated that they were simple humans. It was human nature, perhaps negative nature, to want things like this.

As these thoughts passed through his mind and he walked passed Arkana's prone form, Ra disappeared. But Yami had no way of knowing that a dark, slim figure was watching him all the while.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joey gaped at his opponent. He couldn't believe that it was going to come to this. He knew that Dartz had spoken about facing each other, but it was only now he realized how sick it was.

"I don't wish to duel you either, Mr. Wheeler," said Zane softly. But they had no choice. The moment they had both entered the room unawares, the doors were automatically closed. They wouldn't budge. The windows were barred as well.

"Only the best can face these men," continued Zane, activating his Duel Disk. "Consider this as the best for humanity." Joey sighed.

(Zane: 8000, Joey: 8000)

"Just so you know, I'm not going easy on you just because you're a kid," smirked Joey. "I don't expect you to, Mr. Wheeler. I don't expect you to."

Drawing their opening hands, both duelists yelled at the same time, "LET'S DUEL!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Even as Yami walked by Arkana's prone form, he had no idea about the dark, slim figure that was watching him.

"_Indeed… The Winged Dragon of Ra is a powerful weapon. Combined with the Seal of Orichalcos, nothing shall stop me from getting my revenge._"

**Am I not evil? I love cliffies. Anyway, things are going to start heating up next chapter, and both th Joey-Zane and Jaden-Darren duels will be concluded. If you guys are interested in a sneak peak, both Kagemaru and this mystery person at the end will also duel. Till then, keep guessing!**

**Original Cards**

**By Me: Spellcaster's Sacrifice, Eternal Empowerment**


	32. Funeral for a Friend, Part 2

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: Funeral for a Friend, Part 2

**Phew… twenty pages long enough for you?**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Darren has a lot in him, as you will soon see. Orochi will make an appearance, sooner or later. I enjoyed your earlier stream of ideas, so keep em' coming.**

**Princess Yunariana: Thanks a lot.**

**Shadowcat: It was fun writing that duel. Thanks for the comments.**

Ryou stared up at the looming Empire State Building. A shiver went down his spine. Could he do it? The odds seemed ridiculous. But then again, his friends were inside, and they needed his help.

"_Oh, shut up, you idiot," _hissed Yami Bakura through their mental connection provided by the Millennium Ring. "_The Pharaoh can take care of himself. All I want is revenge against that fool Marik Ishtar. Now stop your whining and let me take over_."

There was a flash of light, and standing in the innocent, shy, and quiet Ryou's place was Bakura, the King of Thieves himself. He glared up at the building, and looked at this Duel Disk. "_Sit tight, hikari. I'm over five thousand years old and I can still screw up these fools._"

While everyone thought of Yami Bakura is a mindless jerk who simply wanted to kill people, his time in the Spirit World had changed him. Stranded in the fiery depths of that mysterious place, he had grown to appreciate the comfort of having a host. While still no less vindictive, he did let Ryou have a bit of freedom. After all, if the kid lost it, he would be without a host.

"_Do you really think you can take on whoever you meet on the spot?_" His yami considered. "_I could use a bit of help. I think I know the perfect man…_" "_Who_?"

"_You know him. He's a bit of an idiot, but then again it would be an honor to work with me, the badesst of badasses._" Ryou rolled his eyes at this. "_He was defeated by that fool, Anubis. I will use Seto Kaiba_." With that, Yami Bakura strolled into the Empire State Building.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jaden smirked at Darren. "You are going to pay…. But then again, you should know that. "Hmm…. It would obviously be wiser to get rid of both your monsters, considering any one of them can be sacrificed for one of those extra-pesky monarchs. I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart (1500/1600)!"

He was a muscular man with long black hair tied in a ponytail, war paint on his face, and wore nothing but a combat dress to conceal his bottom half. A huge sword was slung over his back and sheathed in a scabbard made of dried bone. "I suppose Tarzan here is going to ruin me?" laughed Darren.

Jaden spat his contempt. "Wildheart, obliterate his Archfiend Soldier with Wilderness Blade!" The Elemental Hero drew the sword, which was about six feet long. With a cry, the jungle man rushed forward. His attack points rose to 2500 as he cleaved his opponent in half.

"Phoenix Enforcer, kill his Dark Monarch!" The mystical hero rushed up to the emperor of darkness, and decapitated it by sticking its arm into its opponent's gut and causing an explosion.

"Not bad," said Darren. "But this sets the stage for turning the tables. Activate quick play magic card, Gift to an Heir! When a monarch is destroyed in battle, and if I have two or more monarchs in my graveyard, I can special summon another monarch from my hand. It retains its original effect, _and_ gains the effect of a monarch in my graveyard. Please welcome Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch (2400/1000) to the field!"

The fading shadows of Caligo were replaced by a deadly samurai in blazing red armor, wielding a katana made of pure fire. "I choose to give him Zaborg's effect. First his own effect activates, allowing him to nuke a card in your hand. I choose the middle card." Jaden grimaced and revealed it. It was Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000).

"Since it's a level seven, you lose seven hundred life-points, _and_ you must discard it." Jaden grunted, but nonetheless, he was compelled to follow. "Then I activate the other effect, which allows me to destroy your Phoenix Enforcer." Jaden raised his hands in defense as the deadly monarch let lose a torrent of flame in his monster's direction. It attempted to block the attack, but it was to no avail. Soon there were nothing but ashes in its place.

"Now, to get rid of that pesky Skyscraper, I'll seal your fate with this! I play the Seal of Orichalcos!" Jaden gasped as the buildings around him shattered. Wildheart looked around himself in shock, even as the deadly green circle spread out under his feet. Jaden looked wildly around, and noticed that Tea wasn't there. But that was the least of his worries.

"Now Thestalos (2400 + 500 2900/1000) can obliterate your Wildheart. Attack with Final Flame!" Raising his infernal blade, the fire powered samurai struck, his flames hot enough to burn through his opponent's solid steel armor. Wildheart fell with a groan. Darren laughed harder than before even as the Seal continued to glow brighter on his forehead.

Jaden gave him a withering look as Darren ended his turn.

(Jaden: 6300, Darren: 4900)

The Slifer Red looked over his hand of now four cards. Compared to this, Darren had none. But still, even without its effect, the Firestorm Monarch was incredibly dangerous with a deadly twenty-nine hundred attack points.

"I set a monster in defense mode, along with another facedown, and end my turn."

Darren smirked. "I summon Goblin Elite Attack Force (2200/1500)!" A group of armored goblins appeared, wielding clubs and shields. "I _hate _those guys," moaned Jaden.

Darren ignored him. "Goblin Elite Attack Force, attack his monster now!" The gang of fiends rushed across the fields, wielding there weapons in a fevered frenzy. Within seconds, they had hacked apart Jaden's monster, revealing it to be his Elemental Hero Bubbleman (800/1200).

"Thestalos, reveal to him the true power of the monarchs and attack him directly!" "I'm afraid I can't allow that!" spat Jaden. "Activate Hero Signal, throwing a level four or lower Elemental Hero from my deck to the field. So meet Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000)!"

Then, a huge bulky golem made of clay materialized in front of him and kneeled down on its huge legs, shielding itself with its wide arms. It also had a red helmet on its tiny face which sat directly on the top of his head. Darren gave him a bemused look. "Ah well, I guess it'll make a more satisfying meal for Thestalos than you. Blow it away!"

Thestalos nodded, and with a slash of its sword, sent a wave of fire in the Clayman's direction, obliterating it. Darren ended his turn with a laugh.

Jaden closed his eyes. He had to win. He simply _had_ to. He would. Hell, he had defeated the Legendary Demons as well as Sartorius. Darren should have been child's play for him. Then again, the legendary Slifer Red was not without losses…

His eyes snapped open as he drew. "Now it's time to get your game on! Even if you're not holding back, its over! I activate Never-ending Nuisance, which allows me to activate a normal spell card from my graveyard. I choose Miracle Fusion, removing from play Sparkman and Flame Wingman to summon one of my most powerful monsters! Meet Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman (2500/2100)!"

Right before Darren's eyes the blue and gold armored Sparkman and the green-skinned Flame Wingman were entering a fusion vortex together. He had no idea what was going on, but he was sure that he would be able to handle it.

What emerged had to be one of the most magnificent monsters Darren had ever seen. Covered in thick cybernetic armor, the new monster slightly resembled the Flame Wingman. His legs were thin, but appeared to be powerful, as did his arms, all wrapped in the silver armor. And now, instead of the single wing of the Flame Wingman, this new monster had two identical wings, each one lined with long, metallic feathers on the outer edges.

Darren gave a mental sigh of relief upon noting its stats. "That thing can't even take on my Goblin Elite Attack Force, let alone my Thestalos. What a waste!"

Jaden shook his head, indicating Shining Flare Wingman's growing attack points. It came to rest at a deadly 3700, almost as strong as Obelisk the Tormentor. "Shining Flare Wingman gains three hundred attack points for every E-Hero in my graveyard. So, say goodbye, cuz' he's far stronger than either of your monsters."

"We'll see, Yuki. We'll see."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joey examined his opening hand. "I summon Axe Raider (1700/1200) in attack mode." A new warrior emerged into existence with a loud battle-cry and jumped onto the field. He was a muscular barbarian dressed in a chest plate of golden armor, and he carried an axe in his right hand.

Zane said nothing. "I set one card facedown and end ma' turn!"

The machine duelist glanced over his hand with the practiced eye of a seasoned duelist. "I special summon Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)." A metallic, snake-like dragon appeared in front of Zane. It glared at the barbarian, who attempted a weak flex of his muscular arms. But that was it.

"Next I summon Infernal Dragon (2000/0) in attack mode." A zombie-like dragon with torn wings appeared. Its demonic vision would terrify all but the most experienced duelists. Joey grimaced at the strength of the two monsters."

"Infernal Dragon, start things off by destroying his Axe Raider." The undead dragon let lose a torrent of black flames in the warrior's direction. Joey chuckled. "Sorry, I activate Blast with Chain. It's a special trap card, which acts as an equip card, giving Axe Raider 500 more attack points."

Zane frowned as a chain with sharp prongs at the end appeared in the Axe Raider's (2200/1200). It gave a grunt and threw the chain in its opponent's direction. It crashed through the flames and shattered the unfortunate Infernal Dragon.

"An attack from your Cyber Dragon would be pointless, so you had might as well end now," said Joey pointedly.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Joey snapped the next card of his deck. "I summon Blue Flame Swordsman (1800/1600) in attack mode." A warrior that was very similar to the famous Flame Swordsman appeared, only he wore blue where orange would be, plus he had no shirt on. His sword burned with blue flames as he glared at the Cyber Dragon.

"Axe Raider, blow away 'dat Cyber Dragon with Murderous Axe Slash!" The warrior rushed forward and was about to decapitate the dragon, when a vortex appeared between the two. "Negate Attack serves my purpose of protecting my dragon from your attack."

Joey groaned and ended his turn.

Zane smirked. "I activate Polymerization, fusing the Cyber Dragon on the field with the one in my hand to summon my almighty Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2100)!" The second metal dragon appeared and the two began to swirl around in a wild influx of bright colors.

As the light died, a new dragon with twin heads and necks connected to a large midsection with a large tail appeared. It was about twice the size of the regular Cyber Dragon. Joey looked at it and frowned. "Well, it's a bit weak for a fusion, wouldn't ya' say? Only twenty-eight hundred attack points. Maybe it can take out both my monsters, but I've got loads more in my deck."

Zane shook his head. "Cyber Twin Dragon has a rather nasty special ability that's going to help me win the duel. Now, obliterate his Axe Raider with Double Strident Blaze!" Joey winced as the massive machine opened both of its mouths. Twin balls of energy formed and were sent flying at the Axe Raider, which was completely incinerated.

(Joey: 7400, Zane: 8000)

"Well, ya' got rid of it, but that's still horrible management. Three cards for 2800 attack points and nothing else?" "It seems you are unaware of my monster's effect," smirked Zane. "Blow away his Blue Flame Swordsman with Double Strident Blaze!"

Joey swore as another blast from the Cyber Twin Dragon literally ripped his unfortunate warrior apart. "My dragon has the special ability of attacking twice in the same Battle Phase, which allowed it to rid your field of these inconveniences." Joey groaned. His defense had just been obliterated.

"I end my turn."

(Joey: 6400, Zane: 8000)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The two guards determinedly raised their guns and pointed them in Yami Bakura's direction. He grinned wryly at them. "Honestly…. Do you believe that _guns_ are going to stop me?" The men had blank looks on their faces. The thief had immediately realized that Anubis or Dartz had placed them under some sort of mind control. It was just the intimidation factor, to ward off a common fool like Wheeler. Then again, there must be some sort of supplementary protection, just in case Yami himself decided to come here.

Both guns fired. The Ring glowed. Bakura raised a hand, and they stopped in mid-air. Twirling his finger around, he forced the bullets to point towards their source, who simply stood there staring blankly. He flicked his finger down, and the bullets sped towards the guards' chest.

He walked through the large door casually, not even noticing the blood that was all over the ground. He preferred not to make things messy, but he simply wasn't in the mood for soul taking or anything of the sort.

The entire room was filled with darkness. He closed his eyes for a second. This was, indeed, a strange doing on his part. Yami Bakura was meant to be the darkness incarnate, the personification of evil. Yet, he found himself helping the idiot Pharaoh and his little friends. One motivation was the sheer depravity of their deeds. He himself wished to destroy humanity, avenge his family and friends.

Yet, the agency he was facing, was doing something far worse. They wanted to completely control mankind, strip them of their free will. He didn't want to end up like that. It was the choice of an intelligent warrior; to join forces with ones' enemies in an attempt to overthrow a greater force.

More than that, he had a personal score to settle with Marik. _He_ was the badass arch-enemy here, not that fool with facial problems.

As he reached over to the wall and flicked a switch, he frowned at what he saw. Kaiba was hanging from a wall on the other end. His wrists had been chained there, and he simply hovered there, three feet above the ground. His features showed no emotion, and his eyes were hollow. Obviously, he had been stripped off his soul. _Again_.

Bakura felt the presence within the area. Although Anubis himself was not there, the magic of the Pyramid of Light hovered around Kaiba, determined to keep his soul. Yami Bakura frowned. If he wanted to restore the man's soul, it would be difficult. Only the power of Millennium Puzzle had ever defeated the Pyramid of Light in combat.

Bakura theorized that the Rod was just a tad weaker than the Puzzle, and could possibly take on the Pyramid as well. Otherwise, it was widely accepted that the other Items were weaker than Anubis' artifact. Still, if he was to get his revenge, he had to try……

"If you wish to save him, I'm afraid I can't allow that," said an extremely deep voice, that came from the doorway. Bakura wheeled around to see an imposing figure standing there. For a second he thought it was Anubis, but immediately realized that it wasn't as powerful. Still, the aura that this arrival was considerably strong.

The man completely revealed himself. He looked to be about thirty-five years old, with long, black hair hanging below his shoulders, and he was extremely muscular. He wore no shirt, but he did wear a long, masculine-looking cloak that was colored a deep green, and wore long, black pants.

"Who the hell are you?" said Bakura gruffly. "Don't tell me your bosses have gone down from guns to wrestlers?" Then he noticed the Chaos Duel Disk on the man's arm. "I see…. You wish to duel the King of Thieves himself? You truly are a fool."

The man smirked slightly. "My name is Kagemaru. I am more than powerful enough to defeat you. I will make it quick and painless if you would be so kind as to co-operate and leave Kaiba alone. I have orders to make sure no one gets near him, and I'm not about to leave it at that."

Bakura grinned and activated his Duel Disk. Here he was completely in his element. He hadn't dueled in a long time. This should be fun.

Another voice echoed through the room. "I don't suppose you people are going leave me out of this." The two gaped. There stood Seto Kaiba, standing on the floor and calmly rubbing his wrists to get the blood flowing. The chains had disintegrated.

"What the hell?" gasped Kagemaru. "Impossible! The Pyramid of Light is too powerful for this fool to overcome." "This is not my doing, you idiot," snapped Yami Bakura. "Then who….."

"That is not important," said Kaiba blankly. Yami Bakura saw something his eye. This wasn't the regular Kaiba. It was as if two different personalities shared his body. What the hell was going on? "Of course, I will the join the two of you. You, Bakura, because of your idiotic persistence. As for you, Kagemaru, you have failed miserably in your task, and deserve to be punished."

"Kaiba, what the hell are you saying?" snarled Bakura. "Stop acting like an idiot and let's deal with this jackass so we can leave and join the Pharaoh. I'll need your help if I happen to run into Dartz or Anubis."

Kaiba ignored him. A DD2 phased onto his arm, complete with a deck. Immediately, he fired off the holo projectors. He did all this with deliberate calmness. "I'm afraid that is not possible. Both of you must be dealt with, before I go ahead and deal with Yami."

"The two of you speak as if I weren't even here," said Kagemaru angrily. "Neither of the three of us can deal with each other, so what about a three-way, free for all? It'll simplify things. After all, I was told to make sure that Kaiba is unable to leave this room, at all costs."

"Too true," agreed Kaiba coldly. The sadism and madness was ever-present in his voice. Yami Bakura gave him one last, angry, desperate look, before accepting it. Slowly letting the darkness overtake him, he drew his five cards.

The three duelists formed a sort of triangle, and immediately, Yami Bakura allowed the dark fog to drift in. Kagemaru gave him a cold look. "The Shadow Realm? You fools can't do without it, can you?" As usual, the room seemed to have no limits now."

(Kagemaru: 8000, Kaiba: 8000, Bakura: 8000)

Kagemaru looked up imperiously at his opponents. "I see that the two of you are blissfully unaware of my skills. I activate Solemn Wishes, which grants me five hundred life-points for every draw any of us makes." He smirked and continued. "Then I summon Meteor Demon (1900/1500) in attack mode."

A strange monster appeared. It looked like a regular demon, with two horns and a long tail. It was extremely bulky. However, it was made of completely of rock, and blazed with strange, black hellfire.

"I end my turn."

Kaiba picked up his next card, boosting Kagemaru to eighty-five hundred. "I summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200) which is strong enough to match your demon." A brown ogre appeared, dressed in black armor and carrying a large axe.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn."

Bakura drew, increasing Kagemaru's life-points. He ignored it, knowing that he had bigger things to worry about. "I think the two of you gentlemen, a term that I use in the loosest possible sense, will be rather intrigued by my new deck…."

He held up a card. "I activate Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards and discard two." He gave a wicked grin as he did so. "I discarded Gren, Tactician of the Dark World (300/500) and Kahkki, Guerilla of the Dark World (300/500). If Gren is discarded, I can destroy a monster on the field. The same thing applies for Kahkki, except he destroys spell or trap cards. Your Solemn Wishes doesn't pose an immediate threat for me. Therefore, I will wipe out Kaiba's field."

In an explosion, the Vorse Raider and the facedown card were destroyed. "Then I summon Brron, Mad King of the Dark World (1800/400)." A demonic creature in brown rags appeared, hoisting a large spear into the air.

"Attack his life-points directly with Psycho Demon Rush!" The monster threw down the spear, cackled insanely, and rushed forward, determined to rip Kaiba apart with its bare hands.

The elite duelist looked at it coldly. "I activate my quick-play spell card, Blood Blast. If a beast, warrior, or beast-warrior is destroyed during this turn by a card effect, I can destroy all other monsters on the field." Bakura groaned as a minor explosion brought forth the ghostly spirit of the Vorse Raider. With two slashes of his weapon, he made quick work of Brron and the Meteor Demon.

While Bakura looked put off, Kagemaru seemed to appreciate the gesture. "Upon his destruction, Meteor Demon lets me summon a level four or lower normal fiend from my deck. I choose Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500)!" A warrior of the underworld it seemed was his new soldier, with purple scales, curled horns and armor smelted in the pits of Hell itself appeared.

Bakura frowned. Kagemaru was at an advantage now. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

(Kagemaru: 10500, Kaiba: 8000, Bakura: 8000)

The muscular man kept his eyes level with the other two duelists as he carefully drew.

"I activate Polymerization, Archfiend Soldier with the Summoned Skull (2500/1200) in my hand, to summon the almighty Fiend Skull Paladin (2600/2400)!" Bakura frowned as a ghostly version of the Summoned Skull appeared. It was sucked into a vortex along with the Archfiend Soldier.

The result was a truly horrific beast. It had the stature of the Summoned Skull, but instead of wings, it was draped with the black cape of the Archfiend Soldier, with heavy armor covered all its limbs. Its face was a crazy mix of both monsters, and it had monstrously large claws on either hand.

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Pretty pathetic, if you ask me. I don't think a fusion is worth only 2400 attack points." Kagemaru smirked. "Actually, it's much more powerful. It gains five hundred attack points for every fiend in every duelist's graveyard."

Bakura gasped, realizing that his entire strategy had been turned completely against him. All his Dark World monsters were fiends. Between himself and Kagemaru, there were already six fiends that would power up the Fiend Skull Paladin (5600/2400).

Kagemaru laughed to himself. "My new monster is capable of wiping out either one of you with two attacks, and it'll only grow stronger as you play, Ryou Bakura."

Kaiba, on the other hand, didn't seem at all worried. He simply gave the Fiend Skull Paladin a pointed look, and said coldly, "Attack points aren't everything."

"Perhaps not, Kaiba… Perhaps not. But statements like that have to be proved before they have any kind of significant credibility." "Oh, I'll give you your proof. Soon, Kagemaru. Very soon."

"Keep talking. Fiend Skull Paladin, attack Kaiba's life-points directly with Hell Claw!" The massive monster rushed forward, raising its claws. The one it was about to attack stared impassively forward and at the last second ripped out a card.

"I play Silent Chant of Life, which lets me pay a thousand life-points to reduce all life-point damage taken this turn to zero." Even as the Fiend Skull Paladin was about to strike, it was absorbed by an explosion. It came out safely, but Kaiba was not harmed.

"_He's doing this effortlessly….." _realized Bakura.

Kagemaru snorted. "You saved yourself for just one turn."

"Keep talking, Kagemaru. That one turn…. It's all that it takes for me to defeat you." Kaiba said this in such an eerie manner, that it felt like the temperature in the room had dropped a few degrees. Kaiba was normally quite a cold person, but this man sounded like he had ice water flowing through his veins.

"Incorrect," snarled Kagemaru. "My monster is already stronger than your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and its one of the weaker ones in my new deck. It was created by the Pyramid of Light…. Straight from the darkness of my soul…." he laughed to himself.

Bakura swallowed. It meant that there would be a large number of cards he hadn't even heard off, even though he was a very talented duelist himself.

"For now, I end my turn," hissed Kagemaru.

(Kagemaru: 11000, Kaiba: 7000, Bakura: 8000)

Kaiba snapped the next card of his deck. "I activate Advanced Ritual Art, sending my Blue Eyes White Dragon from my deck to the graveyard, in order to special summon my Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200)!"

The ghostly image of a Blue Eyes White Dragon passed over Kaiba's field, and was replaced by a smaller dragon, identical to the one that had just appeared. Mounted on it was a fiendish warrior, clad in pearly white armor, and a blade that flashed like lightning.

"Then I play Book of Moon, flipping your monster into facedown defense position," continued Kaiba. Kagemaru snarled as a book that had a half moon, along with pictures of various Egyptian Gods appeared. It glowed, and the Fiend Skull Paladin grunted as if under pressure. It keeled over, and was replaced by a facedown card.

"Now, for the ace of my combo. Paladin of White Dragon destroys facedown monsters regardless of their defense points. Obliterate his Fiend Skull Paladin with Ionic Spear Burst!" With a sonic screech, the Paladin shot forwards at the speed of a Concorde.

It began to glow, and was soon surrounded by a sphere of energy. The paladin's sword grew into a lance, and together, rider and steed crashed into the facedown card. It flipped up, and the paladin continued on to fly right through the fiend's chest. With a grown, it fell over.

"That's game," said Kaiba coldly. Kagemaru growled in frustration. "There's no way in hell I'm letting you defeat me," he snarled. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not depending on hell," retorted Kaiba.

Bakura watched the exchange with growing satisfaction. This obviously meant that Kaiba's deck was still mostly based on the Blue Eyes White Dragon. He would let Kaiba's heavy hitters defeat Kagemaru. If the obnoxious brat didn't listen to reason even after that, Bakura's new deck held a secret weapon that rivaled even the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

"I summon Underworld Demon-Slayer (1700/1000)," smirked Bakura. A man in a blood red coat appeared. He carried a dagger in each hand, and long, raven-black hair tumbled down to his shoulders. "A weak, drop-out," spat Kaiba.

"Unfortunately for you, no. Activate special effect, Shadow Blade! Now, he can destroy a monster on the field if I remove a fiend in my graveyard from play. So say goodbye to that Paladin of White Dragon!" "A well-played move, but not enough," said Kaiba quietly, even as the Demon Slayer's daggers glowed with dark magic.

"I activate Sacrifice for a Dragon. By sending a level eight or higher dragon from my deck to my graveyard, any dragon on my field is protecting from effects till the end of the turn. I'll choose to send my second Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) to the graveyard."

Bakura's mind was a mixture of anger and confusion. The former was because Kaiba had saved his dragon, and the latter was very surprising. The Blue Eyes meant a lot to Kaiba, and it was odd that he'd just chuck it away like that. But Kaiba wasn't exactly himself anyway.

"Arghhh…. Fine. Kagemaru, I attack you directly!" The Demon-Slayer raised his weapons, and threw them towards Kagemaru. They each hit him in a shoulder. He grunted in pain as his attacker summoned his knives back.

"I set a card and end my turn."

(Kagemaru: 9300, Kaiba: 7000, Bakura: 8000)

Kagemaru drew. "I set one card facedown, and then summon play Shadow of the Day!" "What the hell is that?" snarled Bakura. The Sun seemed to rise up behind Kagemaru, but it didn't seem to light up the field. "It lets me pay a thousand life-points to add one continuous spell, and one continuous trap, from my deck to my hand. With that, I end my turn."

The sun disappeared.

Kaiba drew. "I remove from play my Vorse Raider, to special summon the almighty Vorse Blood Lord (2500/2300)!" The Vorse Raider reappeared on the field, a sick, bloodthirsty grin on its face. It let out a shrieked, and dropped its weapon. Grabbing its head in pain, it began to mutate. Muscles grew to a huge size as armor burst.

As the sickly metamorphosis finally ended, it raised its head. It was now about nine feet tall, and covered in jet black armor, and it looked a bit like a machine. However, the bloodlust and hunger in its eyes were very, very real. It held a huge, bloody axe that resembled that of an excecutioner. It had a blood red cape, and snarled at the sight of Kagemaru and Bakura.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "What a pathetic waste. You actually have to remove a certain monster from play to summon something with twenty-five hundred attack points?" Kagemaru seemed to agree as well.

"Unfortunately for you, Vorse Blood Lord has a rather deadly effect. I can special summon any level six or higher monster from my deck by removing from play monsters whose levels double the level of the desired monster. So I remove both my Blue Eyes White Dragons to summon their sister! Meet my third Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)."

The familiar, yet deadly, pale white dragon appeared. Metallic scales flashed in the darkness of the Shadow Realm, and it growled at its master's opponents, throwing its wings into the air for emphasis. Bakura frowned. Along with the Blue Eyes, Kaiba now had his considerably strong Vorse Blood Lord, along with his powerful Paladin of White Dragon.

"I have other things in store for you two. I now sacrifice my Vorse Blood Lord and Blue Eyes White Dragon for my mighty Maju Garzett!!

A gigantic mess of flesh, bone, gristle and hair appeared on Kaiba's side of the field. It looked like a Summoned Skull with long, purple hair coming down its back. Bakura was shocked. What was a fiend doing in a dragon deck? "This powerful monster's attack points are equal to that of the two sacrificed monsters, putting it at a colossal fifty-five hundred!"

He then looked from one opponent, to the other. "It's a hard choice. Should I attack you, Kagemaru? Your powerful monsters are a bit of trouble. Or perhaps you, Bakura, bringing me one step closer to wiping out the nuisance of your Dark World monsters."

His eyes flicked from one to the other. "I've made my choice. Maju Garzett, attack Bakura with Digestion Punch!" Bakura snarled as the monster stretched out a fist, and began to run forwards. "I won't allow it. Activate Draining Shield, which negates the attack and grants me life-points equal to your monster's attack points."

An invisible shield appeared, and it blocked the Maju Garzett's attack. Bakura smirked as he glowed with golden energy, sending his life-points skyrocketing to 13500. Kaiba snarled in anger. "I end my turn, but soon you will both be lying at my feet!"

(Kagemaru: 9300, Kaiba: 7000, Bakura: 13800)

Bakura snapped the next card off his deck. "I sacrifice Underworld-Demon Slayer, to summon my mighty Dark Ruler Ha Des (2450/1600)!" The fiend was the tall and powerful form of the blue skinned demon that ruled the realm of the Underworld. "Next I'll attack you directly, Kagemaru!"

Kagemaru laughed a cruel laugh as he slammed a card into his Duel Disk's magic and trap card zone.

"I activate Take from the Rich, Give to the Poor. If I'm being targeted by an attack that will do more than 2000 points of damage and your life-points are higher than mine by more than 2000, I may negate it. I can cut your life-points by your monster's attack points, and increase mine by the same amount. Plus, if there's another level four or lower monster on the field, I can destroy it. Say goodbye to your Paladin of White Dragon, Kaiba!"

Bakura groaned as his Dark Ruler's fist was blocked by a shield of shadows. His life-points went down to 11050, and Kagemaru's went up to 11750. At the same time, an invisible fist began to squeeze Kaiba's other monster. It groaned in pain, and suddenly burst into a mess of blood and guts.

"I…. end my turn."

Kagemaru drew ruthlessly. "I activate my facedown Spirit Barrier. As long as a monster is on my field, I can't lose life-points."

"Next I set another card facedown, and end my turn."

Kaiba drew, and glanced once again from Bakura to Kagemaru. "Maju Garzett, obliterate Kagemaru!" The disgusting fiend lumbered forward, drawing back its arm once again, and rushed towards the powerful duelist.

"I activate my facedown Cyber Shadow Gardna!" As the fiend was about to punch, a strange, almost spectral machine appeared. It seemed to be made of liquid metal, and its body fanned out into innumerable, metallic tendrils. It had two spindly legs, and glowing jewels as a torso. "This card is one of the rare beasts known as trap monster," said Kagemaru in a satisfied tone.

"Does it look like I give a damn? Maju Garzett, annihilate that pathetic excuse for a monster." Suddenly, the Cyber Shadow Gardna's attack points shot up to 5500! "My trap monster's attack points are equal to those of the attacking monster," explained Kagemaru. "You can either choose to go on and destroy both, or simply end you turn."

Glancing at the metallic beast warily, Kaiba ended his turn.

Bakura snapped the next card off his deck. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn," he smirked.

Kagemaru drew, and a dark smile spread across his face. "It's time," he thundered. "I'm about to summon a beast of such power, that only the Egyptian gods can match up to it! You see, this beast is known as a Legendary Demon, and I've used it in my duel against the God of Death. It very nearly crushed him. Gentlemen, I'm sending all three of my continuous traps to the graveyard to welcome to the field Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (?/?)!!!"

The cards of Solemn Wishes, Cyber Shadow Gardna, and Spirit Barrier disappeared. The creature soon began to appear from within the tower of flames. Out of the flames came a set of large red wings that had thin skin covering them that appeared to be attached to arms. Slowly, a red snake like body with a grey underbelly appeared from the flames that had many scales. The head of the monster had many spikes, and it had a massive set of sharp teeth. It let out a loud roar, making the darkness shake from the power of it.

"What is _that_?" gasped Bakura. "A mighty beast, yet not the strongest in my deck. The others will be revealed later, if you survive Uria, that is. My mighty dragon gains a thousand attack points for every continuous trap in my graveyard. I have three, putting him at three thousand." The fiendish dragon roared as its power soared.

Kaiba snarled. "It's not enough to take out my fiend. Tough luck."

"I'm afraid that this is just the beginning of what I have in store for you fools. You see, I activate Painful Choice, which lets me select five cards from my deck, and show them to any one of you. You choose one, which goes to my hand, and the rest find their way to the graveyard."

He slotted out five cards and held them up for Bakura to look at. As he expected, each one was a continuous trap. In despair, he sighed. "Fine, I'll let you keep the Aqua Chorus." Kagemaru smirked as he discarded the rest. Uria (7000/7000) screeched as its power reached new heights.

"Now, obliterate his ever-pathetic Maju Garzett with Hell Firestorm!" Roaring loudly, the large red dragon took aim and shot out a stream of searing red, hellish flames straight for the disgusting fiend. It screamed pathetically in agony as Uria slowly began to burn it away. It was like the demon reveled in this torture, feeding off its enemy's pain. The Maju Garzett's flesh began to boil as it evaporated in a burst of smoke.

Bakura snarled in anger. Seven thousand attack points! How was he supposed to fight such a beast? But no matter, he would prevail in the end.

"I end my turn…. Soon you fools will be fried to a crisp by Uria's awesome might!"

(Kagemaru: 11750, Kaiba: 5500, Bakura: 11050)

Kaiba drew, and a cold smirk curled its way along his lips. "Bakura…. You may believe I'm neglecting you. I'll be more than happy to return and torture you after I deal with you after I finish this clown. Now, stand back as I activate Lust of Magic! By removing four monsters in my graveyard from play, I can add a magic card from my deck, to my hand. So I remove Vorse Blood Lord, Paladin, my third Blue Eyes, and Maju Garzett to add a certain card from my deck to my hand."

Kagemaru nodded at this, apparently bored. "I now play it. Pot of Greed!" Kaiba drew two more cards, and smirked. "You see, this is about to send one of you very near to the jaws of defeat if it goes through successfully. But enough talk. I start things off by activating Dimension Fusion, paying a grand total of 2000 life-points to special summon up to five monsters from the removed from play pile."

He laughed as his life-points went down to 3500. "Come back to me, my three Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500), along with Vorse Raider (1900/1200) and Vorse Blood Lord (2500/2300)!" The three majestic dragons appeared side by side, screeching to show off their power. They were followed by the ogre-like warrior, and his more powerful counterpart.

"Impressive," said Kagemaru. "With a single card, you were able to bring back five powerful monsters. Unfortunately, not one of them is even half as strong as my Uria."

Kaiba ignored him. "I activate Delta Attack Formation! If there are three normal monsters in play with the same name, all of them can attack you directly! Kagemaru, time for you to lose over eighty percent of your life-points. Triple White Lightning!"

The three gigantic dragons reared back and roared in anger. Balls of energy formed in their mouths as they let lose the attack with a screech. Kagemaru snarled and crossed his arm in a feeble attempt to block the attack. It bypassed the Lord of Searing Flames as it hit the demon's master. There was a terrible explosion, and Bakura was forced to shield his eyes while Kaiba looked on mercilessly.

As the smoke cleared, one could see that the attack had taken a visible toll on Kagemaru. He was panting with exertion, but strangely enough, he had a grin on his face.

"You…. will… pay…" He was able to gasp this much, inciting a scoff from both duelists.

"And now for you, Bakura. Vorse Raider, destroy his facedown card with Savage Scythe!" The ogre was only to happy to oblige. With a shriek of delight, it bounded forward, and with a single slash of its weapon, cut Bakura's monster in half. It stayed on the field just long enough to reveal it as a small purple demon, carrying a bloody dagger and bearing a lopsided grin.

"My Scorpio Burglar Demon (600/800) allows me to send two cards from the top of your deck to the graveyard." Kaiba picked up the two cards, and noticed them to be his Crush Card Virus and Revenge Knight (1500/1200). Not good, but still, Revenge Knight's effect came into play.

"If it's sent to the graveyard by a card effect," explained Kaiba, "I can discard a card from your hand. Say goodbye to your middle card!" Bakura gave a dark smile as he did so. "You fool! You made be discard my mighty Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World (2500/1800). When he's discarded by your effect, he's brought back to the field!"

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. A truly evil demon rose up. His body was extremely muscular, and was inscribed with several runes. Skin shone dark blue and black, and two massive wings branched out from his back. He held a staff with a gold blade in his left hand.

"When he's special summoned by his own effect, I can blow away all monsters or magic and trap cards on your field, since you made me discard him, Kaiba. Go now, Darkness Obliteration!" The deadly beast brought its weapon down in an arc. The force with which it hit the ground brought up a wave of dark energy, which sped across the field and hit Kaiba's dragons and beasts. They were immediately sliced up and destroyed.

"It's left you wide open," sneered Bakura. Kaiba did not seem worried, and unduly ended his turn.

(Kagemaru: 2750, Kaiba: 3500, Bakura: 11050)

Bakura drew. He had his powerful Reign-Beaux, but now that its effect was used, it wasn't as deadly as he would have liked, especially against Uria. "Hmm….. I set a monster in defense mode, switch Reign-Beaux to defense mode, and end with a facedown."

All three duelists now had close to no cards to work with. Kagemaru was aware of this, but upon his new draw, he smiled darkly. "My Uria is powerful, but this next beast is going to be the hammer to seal the nail of your defeat. I play the continuous magic card, Triangle Force." A card depicting the three magnet warriors, Alpha, Beta and Gamma, appeared.

"When it activates, it allows me to activate two more Triangle Forces from my deck!" "What difference does all this make?" snapped Kaiba.

"Oh…. You'll see what difference it makes. I now summon my second Legendary Demon, which requires me to send three continuous spells to the graveyard. So I'll say goodbye to my three Triangle Forces, and welcome to the field HAMON, LORD OF STRIKING THUNDER (4000/4000)!"

The three cards disappeared, and Bakura snarled in rage. Just what he needed. Yet another uber-powerful monster.

Bolts of lightning began to flash in the darkness. The creature was a large dull yellow beast with massive thin skinned wings, thin arms with large clawed tips on it's hands, red glowing eyes, two large horns and a chin like horn on it's head, a long powerful tail, and sharp claws and fangs. It was, by the loosest definition, a dragon. The creature roared loudly, sending out several shockwaves.

Kaiba had finally decided to take some notice. He glanced worriedly at the new arrival. It meant trouble for the both of them. Kagemaru was laughing insanely. Uria seemed impressed by the new arrival, and growled a warning and greeting at the same time.

"Hamon may not be _nearly_ as powerful as Uria, but only on a face value basis. His abilities make him truly devastating. First, however, I'm going to end you, Seto Kaiba. Your persistence in attempting to escape is annoying, and you will pay. Uria, obliterate him with Hyper Blaze!"

Roaring loudly, the red snake like dragon opened its jaws, allowing flames to lick the insides of its mouth. With a grunt, it let lose the flames in Kaiba's direction. Bakura watched them emotionlessly. The fool had turned down his offer for help, and would now pay the price.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As these three evils raged for supremacy, Joey and Zane were still locked in a battle of wills.

Joey drew. "I activate Foolish Burial, allowing me to send a monster from my deck to the graveyard." Selecting the desired monster, he flicked it into his graveyard. "Then I play my powerful magic card, Raining Lightning! It allows me to revive Gilford the Lightning (2800/1400) from my graveyard at the cost of a thousand life-points. At the same time, his effect is activated, allowing me to blow away all ya' monsters!"

Bolts of lightning struck the ground, and Zane grimaced as a tall, muscular warrior wearing minimal armor. His style of dress was similar to that of the flame swordsman, though there seemed to be spikes extended from his helmet.

The warrior unsheathed his sword from his back and swung it in an arc. As he did so a black cloud materialized over Zane's monster and from it came a bolt of lightning that shattered the Cyber Twin Dragon, much to Zane's anger.

"Now, Gilford, attack directly with Thunderbolt Cut!" Zane raised his arms up in protection as Gilford raised his sword and lightning struck it. He then hefted it in the Obelisk Blue's direction. The charge of electricity crashed into Zane, leaving his coat smoking.

"I'm afraid that as impressive as that move just was, it'll take more to defeat me," commented Zane.

"Ya', ya'…." muttered Joey. "I end with a facedown."

(Joey: 6400, Zane: 5200)

Zane snapped the next card off his deck. "I summon Cyberdark Keel (800/800)." Materializing onto the field was a black metallic snake like dragon with wires hanging off of it's body. It let out a small screech, showing it's readiness for battle. "Pretty weak," Joey commented. Zane ignored him.

"With my Cyberdark Keel's effect, I can equip my Infernal Dragon (2000/0) from my graveyard to it, raising its points by my Infernal Dragon's ATK (800 + 2000 2800/800)." Joey watched in horror as the monster Zane had played earlier reappeared. It was captured by the wires of the Cyberdark Keel, and gave a groan of pain before the mechanical beast drained it off all its strength.

Joey was impressed. "Eh, that's pretty strong. But it's even with my Gilford. If you suicide it with my monster, it would leave you pretty much wide open for an attack next turn."

"Who said I was planning on a suicide? I activate my Tempting Evil equip card, which boosts the attack of a Cyberdark monster on my field by seven hundred, and lets it attack twice in a turn!" Joey grunted as the machine crackled with energy, and its attack points jumped to 3500. "Attack with Overnight Destruction!"

Screeching loudly, the dark machine creature with the black dragon attached spread its wings and began sending white blades of sound waves in Gilford's direction. "I activate Wabuko, which protects ma' attack and ma' life-points from dat'!"

Zane growled as a cluster of mages appeared in front of the lightning warrior. They began to chant, and blocked the sonic attacks of the Cyberdark Keel. "I…. end my turn."

"I play Lightning Blade, which boosts my Gilford's attack points to thirty-six hundred!" Zane gasped as the warrior's power skyrocketed past that of his dragon. "Now, I can counter attack. Gilford, attack with Lightning Blade!"

The warrior rushed forward, its sword glowing with electricity. With a single slash, it cleaved the mechanical dragon in half, much to Zane's anger.

"Impressive… I shall enjoy this duel, Mr. Wheeler, whatever the circumstances. By all means, continue your move." "'Course," chuckled Joey appreciatively. "I guess I end my turn."

(Zane: 5100, Joey: 6400)

Zane observed his hand. "This may be a risky move, but I find myself forced to play the Card of Demise, which lets me till I hold five cards, on the condition that I discard my hand in five turns."

Joey groaned as Zane refilled his hand to the brim. "Next I set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn." The hologram of a brown-backed card appeared.

Joey drew, confident of his definite advantage. Zane had many more cards to work with, but a couple of extra cards in hand meant nothing when he had his Gilford the Lightning at thirty-six hundred attack points. "I summon my Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) A fierce, black metallic knight appeared on the field. It's eyes were red, and it had silver lines on it's body.

"Attack his facedown monster now!" There was a bright flash of light and a resounding clang.

The light faded, revealing a large, metallic fiend. "Cyber Archfiend (1000/2000) is far too strong for you." Joey nodded. "Fine, Gilford, blow da' darn thing away!"

Almost eagerly, the lightning warrior decapitated the fiendish machine with a slice of its shining blade. Zane frowned, and sighed in resignation.

"I end my turn."

(Joey: 6200, Zane: 5100)

Zane picked the next card off his deck. "I set another monster facedown in defense mode, and set two cards facedown. I end my turn."

Joey drew. "I summon Baby Dragon…" Zane smirked. "Sorry, but I can't allow that. I activate the effect of Instant Kill from my hand. If a level four or lower monster is normal summoned or special summoned, I can immediately destroy it.

Joey frowned as his newest monster was immediately struck down by a bolt of lightning. "Eh, it doesn't matter. Gearfried, slice and dice his monster!" Zane seemed unperturbed as his facedown monster, Proto-Cyber Dragon (1100/600) was eliminated.

"Gilford, attack his life-points directly!" Zane suddenly grinned. "I activate my facedown Power Wall! According to its effect, I can send any number of cards from my deck to the graveyard to reduce the damage done to me by a hundred for every card. So I choose to send thirty cards to the graveyard, meaning damage is reduced to six hundred."

Joey was unimpressed, and disgusted. "Only a duelist with real disrespect for his cards would do that. You haven't lost the dark streak yet." Zane glared at him as Gilford's lightning bolt was blocked by a wall of energy. "I respect my cards as much as you do. But I will make them help me in which way I see fit. Now, I activate my next trap, Rebirth Judgment, which changes all monsters in the graveyard to my choice of type. I choose dragon."

Joey shrugged as the attack went through and Zane flinched.

"I end my turn."

(Joey: 6200, Zane: 4500)

Joey noted that Zane's deck was especially large. He still had about twelve or thirteen cards left, which meant that he had about fifty cards to begin with. His strategy must revolve around having a full graveyard. Hell, he had thirty-eight cards there right now.

Zane drew. "I activate Fusion Sacrifice Maneuver. By sending a fusion monster from my deck to the graveyard, I can gain half its attack points as life-points. Say goodbye to my mighty Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800), as he continues to serve me magnificently by boosting my life-points to 6500."

Joey continued to watch in disgust as the spirit of the three-headed behemoth of a machine groaned and disappeared. "Next I play Overload Fusion, which lets me remove from play fusion material monsters for a dark fusion. I remove from play the Cyberdark Edge (800/800), Cyberdark Horn (800/800), and Cyberdark Keel (800/800) to form the Cyberdark Dragon (1000/1000)!"

Joey gasped. Zane had used this beast against Kaiba.

Slowly materializing onto the field were three black creatures. The first was a strange looking creature with long metallic wings that head sharp blade feathers. The metallic had a long tail, pinchers on its mouth, and two stick like arms, with wings larger than its body.

The next was another metallic bug like creature with many sharp spiky wings, a series of spikes, four pronged spiked arms, a sharp tail, and a strange set of jaws with a three purple spots on its head appeared with a primitive roar.

The final one was a black metallic snake like dragon with wires hanging off of its body.

Once fully on the field, the three swirled together, forming a bright blinding light. From the light came a creature that was a combination of the metallic looking bugs and machine snake like creature. It had a massive wingspan filled with sharp metal wings, a long metallic tail, and the head of the creature was a strange combination of the three creatures' mouths. It let out a loud roar.

"My Cyberdark Dragon is going to end this duel. First of all, he gains a hundred attack points for every monster in my graveyard. Out of thirty-five, twenty-one are monsters. That means his attack points shoot up to 3100."

The dragon growled as his attack points increased drastically. "Next I activate his second ability, allowing me to pull a dragon from my graveyard. My beast gains attack points equal to the chosen dragon's attack points. I think I know just the one to pick…. Come and help me, mighty Cyber End Dragon!"

A large silver machine dragon with three heads and massive wings instantly appeared onto the field with a mighty roar. The large black metal dragon then surrounded it and began draining the large silver dragon's strength. With a mighty roar, the black metal dragon spread its wings and glared down at Joey.

"Since Rebirth Judgment is activate, Cyber End Dragon counts as a dragon, meaning my dragon has reached a new height of power." Joey gulped as the Cyberdark Dragon (7100/1000) growled, and bared down upon him.

"Now, Cyberdark Dragon, end the nuisance of his Gearfied with Darkness Strident Blaze!" Joey immediately shouted out weakly, "I activate Block Attack from my hand, shifting him into defense mode." The iron knight dropped into a kneeling position even as the large dragon powered up a dark blast of energy. The poor knight was atomized on contact.

"You saved yourself for one turn, Mr. Wheeler. It won't work again."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Shining Flare Wingman, attack his Thestalos with Everlasting Shine!" The deadly E-Hero rushed forward and cleaved the fiery king in half with a simple slice of its large arm. Darren swore in anger.

"I end my move," said Jaden happily. "_Where is Tea? I thought she'd be cheering me on_?"

(Jaden: 6300, Darren: 4100)

Darren snapped the next card of his deck. "I'm not switching Goblin Elite Attack Force to attack mode. I also set a monster facedown and end my turn." A brow-backed card appeared in front of Darren, and the head goblin attempted a feeble growl.

Jaden drew. "I activate Graceful Charity, drawing three cards to discard two. I discard my Elemental Hero Stratos and Elemental Hero Captain Gold to boost Shining Flare Wingman's attack points past four thousand!" Darren frowned as the Shining Flare Wingman's (4300/2100) grew inconceivably powerful.

"Once again, I'll have him blow away your Goblin Elite Attack Force!" Darren winced as the oncoming monster tore apart his bunch of goblins. "_Geez… I actually liked those guys_."

"I'll throw a facedown and call it a turn."

Darren drew. "Hmm…. This may give you an advantage, but I need it. Activate Card if Sanctity, which allows us both to draw until we hold six cards." Jaden shrugged as he picked up five cards from the top of his deck, and grinned at his new hand.

"I sacrifice my facedown monster for Kreis the Light Monarch (2400 + 500 2900/1000)!" The monster disappeared, and was replaced by a tall, shining man. He was dressed in a golden garb, and had spikes of armor protruding out from his shoulders and knees. He gave Jaden a patronizing glance.

"Your Shining Flare Wingman has grown irritatingly powerful. So, I'll activate Kreis' effect, which reduces the attack points of a monster on your field by twenty-four hundred till the end of the turn. If the monster has less attack points than that, it's destroyed. Unfortunately, your monster's attack points will end up at only 1900, but its enough."

Jaden gasped as the large man fired a nimbus of pure white energy at the Shining Flare Wingman. The poor E-Hero writhed in agony as he was wracked by tendrils of deadly energy. His attack points fell to a shadow of their former self. "Now, Kreis will blow away your now-pathetic monster! Light of Destruction!"

The monarch nodded, and joined his hand in prayer. He glowed with shining light, and then fired another powerful sphere of energy. It rocketed across the field, hitting the Shining Flare Wingman.

There was a flash of light, and when it cleared, Darren was shocked to see the Shining Flare Wingman still standing. "I activated Wabuko," smirked Jaden, "which saves me from your attack. I'm really gonna avenge Alexis now!" His eyes darkened as he said this.

Darren shrugged. "Meh, your monster isn't invincible. Go on and do your worst, this duel will end soon enough."

"Oh, the duel will definitely end very soon. But you've gotta finish your move if you want that to happen."

"Ah yes. I activate Emperor's Greed from my hand. By sacrificing a half his attack points, I can change a monarch's battle-position anytime during the turn. There's another effect, which allows me to also summon two King Tokens (1000/1000) in defense mode. However, they can't attack." Two miniature Kreis' appeared next to the original king (1400/1000), who was no kneeling with crossed arms.

Jaden frowned as Darren ended his turn.

Jaden growled in frustration as he drew. Why wasn't he getting a monster? "Shining Flare Wingman, blow away his Kreis." The powerful hero flew towards the monarch that had nearly done it in, and with a single swish of its arm, destroyed Kreis.

"Seeing as I'll be forced to discard a card unless I play, I'll set a card facedown and end my turn." A brown-backed card appeared.

Darren drew, and a dark smile spread across his face. "So… Yuki. Are you familiar with Buster Blader (2600/2300)?" Jaden scoffed. "Obviously. Its one of Yugi Moto's most powerful cards, other than the God cards."

"Well, it was extremely unpopular when first released, about six years ago. Most die-hard dragon users, such as my colleague Kevin Hunter, were extremely upset by the fact that a card that could so easily counter the most popular monster type in the game had been released. Pegasus began to see that since upwards thirty percent of duelists used dragons in the beginning, such discontent could affect the game. To pacify them, he released another card."

Jaden seemed to take interest. "It was designed to combat warriors, which was the type of Buster Blader. Most dragon users slipped one into their deck to use against warriors, the other popular monster theme. Well, dragons faded from popularity, because of the extreme difficulty of summoning high level monsters in the current game environment. The copies of that card were extremely rare. But you see, after my last duel with you…. I thought it wise to obtain one through one my contacts and place it in my deck. I sacrifice my two King Tokens to summon Dragon Blader (2800/2500)!"

Jaden gasped as the two tokens disappeared, and were replaced by a deadly-looking hybrid. It looked like a cross between human and dragon. It was dressed in armor, which resembled that of a green scaly dragon. It had two draconic wings sprouting from his shoulders. It had a human-like face, but its eyes glowed blood red. In one hand, it held a long katana.

Jaden gave a cold chuckle. "You know, for a minute there, you actually had me scared. But it doesn't look like lizard man over there can match up to my monster." Darren chuckled.

"There was a reason why I told you it was designed to be used against warriors. You see, it's the polar opposite of Buster Blader for the mere fact that it gains five hundred attack points for every warrior in your graveyard and field."

Jaden froze, and finally spoke hoarsely, "Damn." "Correct. I believe this puts my monster at a massive sixty-three hundred attack points, which is more than enough to cut down your Shining Flare Wingman. Attack with Draconic Vengeance Blade!"

Jaden let out a cry of horror as the monster soared forward and with struck out with its blade. The Elemental Hero defended bravely, raising his arms and attempting to block the sword. It was to no avail. The sword passed through his chest, and with a mournful cry, the unfortunate E-Hero shattered into millions of tiny pixels.

Jaden was shaking with anger. "You'll pay for that…. I swear to God you'll pay for that… As well as what happened to Alexis…"

"We'll probably see about that. I end my turn. The Dragon Blader will end you!"

(Jaden: 4300, Darren: 4100)

Jaden drew his next card. "I set a monster facedown and end my turn."

Darren smirked as he picked his next card. "I equip Dragon Blader with Solar Sword- Blade of Revenge. As long as this is active, he's unaffected by magic or trap cards activated before the Damage Step. There is another effect, which will be revealed to you in due course. Dragon Blader, obliterate his facedown monster."

The hybrid rushed forward and cleaved the facedown monster in half with ease, revealing it to be Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird (800/600). Darren grunted, as it didn't boost his Dragon Blader's attack points. Still, it wasn't like the draconic warrior needed more power.

"I end my turn."

Jaden drew shakily, and a small smile spread across his face. "I set a monster in defense mode. I end my turn."

Darren began his turn. "I equip my monster with Fairy Meteor Crush, dealing you damage through defense. Unless your monster has more than 2000 defense points, you're done! Draconic Revenge Blade!"

Jaden let out a nervous laugh. "Eh, I activate my quick-play spell, Hero's Retribution. It saves a facedown level four or lower monster from being destroyed this turn. Also, battle damage is reduced to zero."

Darren growled as a fiery barrier sprung up around the facedown monster, blocking his paladin. "I'll destroy you next turn!"

"Unfortunately, a chance like that is probably not going to present itself to you again." "Oh we'll see… I end my turn."

Jaden drew, and grinned. "Now comes to fun part. I play Fake Hero, letting me special summon an Elemental Hero from my hand, though it can't attack and is sent back to my hand when the turn ends. But please welcome Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!"

Above the field, a flash of light appeared, and suddenly a powerful white warrior with a slicked back horn on his head and spikes coming out from his elbow joints appeared. He had a bit of red lining on his body, along with a bit of blue as well. On his chest was a blue circle.

Darren growled. It had been quite the irritation in their last duel. "Next I flip my facedown Neo Spacian Dark Panther (1000/500)!" Instantly materializing onto the field was a black panther with a black cape tied around it's neck. The cat lightly growled and glared at the Dragon Blader

"I'm not done yet, because I'm bringing out another Neo-Spacian. Meet Neo-Spacian Glow Moss (300/900)!"

A glowing light green creature, which looked like a weird alien, with only two black holes for eyes appeared onto the field.

"Time to show you what's about to happen! I'm merging my three monsters together by Contact Fusion, which keeps me from having to use Polymerization, but the monsters are returned to my deck, plus the new monster I summon returns to my deck when my turn is over. But that's a price I'm willing to pay. Go, Neos, merge together with Glow Moss and Dark Panther to create Elemental Hero Chaos Neos (3000/2500)!" Jaden declared.

All three monsters instantly leaped into the air, with the white warrior taking up the middle and the other two flanking him on his left and right. Slowly, the two flanking the warrior began to move closer to him and a blinding light instantly flooded the field. Once the light died down, only one monster stood in the wake of the light. It was a mostly white creature with black forming on most of its lower body with light green lights gleaming from traces on his body. The new warrior had a large wing span that had white outlines and red skin on the inside of the wings. The warrior's hands had large white claws that appeared rather sharp.

Darren burst out laughing. "All you did was boost my monster's attack points further to seventy-three hundred! You haven't achieved a thing."

"Actually, Chaos Neos has a rather neat special ability. I have to flip three coins." A holographic coin appeared. It flipped thrice, and two of the three results were heads. Jaden was delighted.

"Now, I can negate the abilities of all monsters on the field." Darren gasped as his monster's attack points plummeted to their original twenty-eight hundred, putting it below Chaos Neos. "Attack with Chaotic Swipe!"

Flying forward at an incredible speed, the warrior was on top of Darren's monster before he could react. With a single swipe of his large white claws, the hybrid was cut in half.

Jaden continued to smirk. "At the end of the turn, my monster is supposed to go back to my fusion deck. However, I play this spell now, Contact Out. This let's me send Chaos Neos back to my Fusion Deck, but then, I'm allowed to special summon from my deck the three monsters that formed Chaos Neos, so come on back Elemental Hero Neos, Neo-Spacian Dark Panther, and Neo-Spacian Glow Moss!"

Instantly, the large black and white creature split into three spheres of light. Once the spheres landed onto the ground, each took up a shape of a monster. The one on the left took up the form of the black panther. On the right of the middle sphere, the form of the light green creature appeared. In the middle, the powerful white warrior took up his usual stance.

"I end my turn," said Jaden confidently.

(Jaden: 4300, Darren: 3900)

Darren drew, and frowned. "I set a monster and a card facedown in. End turn."

Jaden let out a chuckle. "You know there's not much hope for you now. Neos, destroy his facedown monster with Cosmic Crush!" The powerful white warrior rushed forward as his fist glowed blue. With all his might, Neos punched the facedown card, shattering it.

"The death of Inazu the Lightning Prince (1400/700) was a small price to pay for activating this facedown card: Monarch's Sacrifice. When a monarch or prince is destroyed in battle, I can send a monarch from my deck to the graveyard to reduce all damage done the rest of the turn to zero. So say goodbye to Raiza the Storm Monarch (2400/1000)."

Jaden sighed. Even an extra 1300 points of damage would have been useful. "I end my turn."

Darren drew, and a crazed look crossed his face. "Did you ever hear the story of the monarchs?" "I don't want to," growled Jaden.

Darren acted as if he hadn't even heard that. "You see, the legend has it that at the Dawn of Time, a barren land was ruled by a truly powerful king. He was the most imperialistic monarch to ever reign, and he commanded legions. Slowly, he crossed barriers of land and sea and began to conquer other lands.

"He believed himself to be the agent of God, and therefore it was his right to rule the world. However, his enemies fought back. It was, however, in vein. He himself possessed too many magical powers to be overcome. The opposition formed a powerful group of mages, and with aid from a powerful seraphim, they split the king into seven different beings. They were Caligo, Raiza, Thestalos, Kreis, Mobius, Zaborg and Granmarg."

"The monarchs!" gasped Jaden. Darren was beginning to look even more strange as his voice escalated. "However, the seven were still one being, and yearned to be one again. For centuries, they've had their priests and mages working on a way to do so. A ritual was discovered. One so terrible and deadly… It hasn't been achieved to date. But now, it will be. I activate Divine Monarch Ritual!"

There was a bright flash of light, and the spiritual images of Caligo, Thestalos, Kreis, Mobius and Zaborg appeared. _"By removing from play five monarchs, I can summon the ultimate beast! Your end! Meet Enzeru the Divine Monarch!!!!"_

Jaden could only gasp and watch helplessly as the five swirled together in an influx of light and power. Fire and ice lashed the field, and lightning struck the ground. Light and darkness fought for dominance in this chaotic combination.

A new monster rose from among the chaos. As he did, everything seemed to stop. He was about fifteen feet tall, and dressed in a heavenly garb. He seemed extremely handsome, with brown hair flowing down till his shoulders. Muscles rippled underneath his attire. He raised his head, and Jaden saw that despite that despite the impressive appearance, there was nothing but evil underneath that being. His arms were folded across his chest, and the right hand clenched a golden staff, with an ornate carving at the head, topped with an emerald.

Darren was laughing madly. "_You see… the seraphim who helped them was the king himself in disguise. He wished to be split apart, knowing that at one point, he could join together again and obliterate his enemies. He has risen, and will now destroy you_."

As he spoke, Jaden was aware of Enzeru's penetrating glare. Darren calmed a bit. "Well, I had might as well explain his effect to you." Enzeru (4300/3600) began to shine. "His base attack points are highly impressive to begin with. There's a lot more to come. You see, he gains five hundred attack points for every monarch and prince in the graveyard and removed from play pile. I count seven."

Jaden's eyes widened as Enzeru's attack points skyrocketed to seventy-eight hundred. "_No…_"

"I really want this to hurt, so I'll use another of his effects. He gains five counters upon being summoned. By removing a counter, I can use the effect of one of the monarchs removed to summon him." Jaden shut his eyes tight as five balls of glowing energy appeared around Enzeru.

Three exploded, using the effects of Zaborg, Kreis and Raiza cleared Jaden's field. "Now, Enzeru, attack him directly with Might of Divinity."

The evil greed never left Enzeru's eyes as he raised his staff. It glowed with divine energy. A soundless explosion took place as the monarch almost gracefully swept his staff forward and allowed the energy to fly across the field and hit Jaden's chest. He fell to his knees, a sad smile on his face.

The Seal began to close in around him as his life-points trickled away to zero.

**Right… three hundred and sixty-nine days ago, I nervously posted the prologue of this story. Now, its on its thirty-second chapter, and its doing really well. I'm thankful to everyone who has supported me over the past year, and I hope more will come.**

**This massive, 12,000 word chapter is a gift to everyone who read the story. I hope you liked it. By the way, I've got the title for the sequel to this story. It's called Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightrise, and will take up straight after the events of this story. The return of the Millennium Items will be explained them, along with many more things.**

**By the way, please review. I worked long and hard on this chapter, and I think I deserve some feedback. Lol, please just review.**

**Original Cards… Later, perhaps? Lol.**


	33. Prince of Darkness

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: Prince of Darkness

**No time for anything… Leaving for the airport in ten minutes. Enjoy!**

Uria's hellish flames plummeted towards Kaiba. He simply continued to stare on ahead. "Sorry, but losing is not on the agenda. I activate Vorse Blood Lord's final effect. I can remove him from play, as well as another monster, to reduce all damage done to me this turn to zero."

Uria's attack was interrupted as the evolved form of the ogre-like beast, as well as the original version appeared. Both raised their weapons determinedly, and took of into the flames, cutting through with their axes. Although they were destroyed, it stopped Uria from continuing to attack Kaiba.

Kagemaru wasn't too bothered. "Ah well, I still have Hamon. This time, the target will be different. Hamon, obliterate Reign-Beaux, Overlord of the Dark World with Cerulean Lightning!"

Spreading its wings, the dull yellow creature roared loudly and lifted its head towards the sky as golden lightning could be seen crackling within its open jaws. Lowering its head, the monster shot out a stream of yellow lightning at the large beast. It screeched in pain as the lightning jarred its entire body, before it was utterly shattered.

"Not so lordly now, is it?" sneered Kagemaru. "But just wait. His next effect activates. When he destroys one of your monsters, you get hit with a thousand points of damage." Letting out a massive roar, the dull yellow dragon released a stream of golden lightning into the darkness. Darkening a bit, the shadows began to fill with lightning. Thunder boomed as the strikes got closer and closer, seemingly hunting Bakura.

Finally, the bolt lanced out of the sky and struck the fiendish duelist directly. He growled in pain as his Ring immediately countered the effects of the pain, and fended off what would have killed a normal man.

"It's mine, it's all mine!" shrieked Kagemaru madly.

"I end my turn. You fools were truly stupid to challenge me!"

(Kagemaru: 2750, Kaiba: 3500, Bakura: 10050)

Kaiba drew calmly. "I activate the Card of Sanctity, allowing me to draw six cards from my deck." All three duelists greedily filled their hands with the cards that they so desperately needed.

"I play Dragon's Mirror, removing my three Blue Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500) from play, to summon their fusion. Meet the godly Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!"

Spirits of the three appeared on the field and let out a loud roar. The three dragons then began to swirl together. A bright, blinding light then covered the field, making it impossible to continue watching. Seto only stood and watched with his arms crossed.

Finally, the light died down as a large, white three headed dragon with massive wings and powerful clawed hands and feet descended onto the field. Each head then let out a mighty roar, making the building seemingly shake.

The other two duelists looked on in awe at the behemoth of a dragon. Easily a match in size for either of the Legendary Demons, it would mean trouble. And lots and lots of it.

"Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, show them what you're really made of and attack his Hamon with Neutron Blast!" Kagemaru snarled as Bakura winced. The dragon powered up a mighty blast of energy in each mouth, and fired them all at Hamon one after the other. The three power-packed attacks twisted together into a single column of destruction.

"I activate the quick-play spell card, Brotherhood of the Demon. If a Legendary Demon on my side of the field is a target of a spell, trap, monster effect, or attack, I can switch it to another demon. Uria is now the target of your attack. Of course, the rules say that in a replay you can choose whether to attack or not."

Uria and Hamon both gave screeches, and let out small bolts of lightning and a few flames from their jaws. They combined, and struck the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon's attack, which immediately dissipated. Kaiba growled. "Pretty obviously, I don't continue the attack. I set a card facedown and end my turn."

Bakura drew. He was determined to make his way back into the duel, as Kagemaru and Kaiba's powerful monsters were taking all the attention. Of course, powerful monsters weren't everything…. Okay, they _were_ everything, but lockdown strategies worked just as well. Thing was… he didn't exactly have the cards to perform a lockdown strategy.

"I activate Sin Symbol- Sloth!" The other two duelists watched with mild interest as a Bakura slid a new card into his Duel Disk. "It's a continuous spell card. As long as I don't attack and activate trap cards on a particular turn, I cannot be attacked, and all monsters are immune to destruction in battle."

Bakura laughed to himself. Kagemaru and Kaiba would probably ignore him, and be at each other's throats from here on out, until one of them succeeded. He, on the other hand, would pick off the remaining one.

"I summon Zure, Knight of Dark World (1800/1600)," he declared.

He placed a card face-up on one of the monster slots on his disk, and a huge, evil demon with silver skin and a purple cape materialized in front of Bakura, while holding a long sword.

"I end my turn."

Kagemaru drew, eyes blazing. "Heh…. Uria obliterate his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Demonic Flame Cannon!" The snake-like beast opened its maw, and fired a blast of hellish flames at Kaiba's three headed dragon. "Unacceptable. I activate Negate Attack, immediately ending your battle phase!"

Kagemaru raised his eyes in surprise and annoyance as a spinning vortex appeared directly in front of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and absorbed the oncoming attack. Uria and Hamon both roared in anger, while Kaiba simply looked on coldly. Bakura grimaced. He knew what he was up against, and realized how glad he was to be safe behind his Sin Symbol – Sloth.

"I will activate Block Attack on Hamon and end my turn. You must realize, that these defenses are only temporary measures against my Demons." The massive, golden demon folded its wings, and bent down with a growl. "You will see my intentions eventually."

Kaiba ignored him. "I draw…. Activate Price of Greed. It lets me pay a thousand life-points, and remove from play a card from my deck, to add a normal spell card to my hand." The other two duelists watched him emotionlessly as he did exactly that. His life-points dropped to 2500.

"I equip my dragon with Megamorph, boosting his attack points to nine thousand!" Bakura looked on in awe as the shadows themselves began to quiver in fear as the Ultimate Dragon began to grow, literally pushing the darkness out of its way with its aura. Soon, it was twice as big as before… Roughly the size of a Boeing 747-400.

Kagemaru was shocked. He was glad that Hamon was now in defense mode. An attack would be lethal, after all. Still, it far surpassed Uria. "Attack his Uria with Neutron Blast!"

Once again, orbs of energy formed, and fired out one after the other at the red dragon. Kagemaru cackled. "There's no way Uria is going to be destroyed. According to Hamon's effect, he has to be attacked if he's in defense mode." Suddenly, Hamon began to glow, and it let out a small bolt of lightning in the ultimate dragon's direction.

It struck the titanic beast, and although it caused no visible damage, the dragon swerved all three of its heads in Hamon's direction.

The blast hurtled towards the golden dragon. The blast struck the powerful golden dragon hard, causing the entire tower to shutter as the blast struck. The blast grinded away on the golden dragon till finally it went straight through its chest and out his back. The mighty golden dragon screamed out in pain as it came crashing down towards the ground. When it struck the field, the tower shook with great force as the Legendary Demon exploded into millions of pieces.

The explosion caused Bakura and Kagemaru both to shield their eyes, as Kaiba looked on coldly. He no longer had any split second counter-moves, no fancy smirks or remarks. All he had was _power_, pure and unadulterated.

Kagemaru looked on in shock. "You… You just destroyed a Legendary Demon in direct battle." Kaiba did not seem to acknowledge the note of disbelief in his opponent's voice

"I can see that after gaining this momentous advantage, I can end this turn on a good note."

(Kagemaru: 2750, Kaiba: 2500, Bakura: 10050)

Bakura drew. "I set a card facedown, and end my turn." The

Kagemaru drew. "Hamon may be gone, but Uria will be your end! I play Sacrifice of Enlightenment. By sending up to four cards from my deck to the graveyard, I can force you both to discard two cards between you, as half of the cards I _sent_ to the graveyard. Thief, lose your middle card. Kaiba, I don't particularly give a damn."

The two duelists did so, and Bakura kept his quite discreet, but was not able to resist an evil grin.

"You see, I sent three continuous traps to the graveyard, which means that Uria's attack points are boosted to ten thousand, more than enough to take on your Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon."

"That is most impressive," said Kaiba quietly as Uria's coils seemed to grow. Its claws grew longer, and the already demonic features grew even more hellish. Bakura's Ring glowed, a way of showing his absolute frustration at this development.

"Incinerate his overgrown lizard with Demonic Flame Cannon! Show him who the true dragon is." Kaiba closed his eyes, and barely seemed to notice as Uria fired out a terrible burst of flames in the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon's direction. The three-headed beast attempted to feebly counter with a Neutron Blast.

The two attacks clashed in mid-air, and struggled for a moment. All three duelists knew that the clash was but one of display: with a thousand more attack points, Uria would crush the Ultimate Dragon.

Both dragons put even more force into their attacks, causing a mid-air explosion. Uria blasted its way through the smoke, and began to wrap its coils around the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, pinning the mighty beast's fore arms to its sides. It flapped its wings in vain, and tried to bite down on Uria's wings, but it was to no avail.

The demon stretched back towards Kagemaru, still coiling tight around Kaiba's monster. With a roar, it let out an explosion of hellish fire at its struggling victim. The unfortunate beast screeched in pain. It was, indeed, a momentous moment, as it was one the few times that a Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon had been defeated in battle.

The dying beast's cries still showed the true strength of the Blue Eyes, as they were cries of defiance and power. Yet, Kaiba chose to ignore his monster's pleas directed to him, for acceptance and forgiveness. Bakura stared at him incredulously.

"You bloody fool! Even I know how to respect my soul monsters," the thief snarled in fury. Kaiba looked at him coolly.

"Keep your advice to yourself. Every card in my deck is a tool, nothing more, nothing less. I care nothing for them. I use them to win duels, and they have accepted that. I give a damn about what happens to them unless it affects the outcome of the duel."

Bakura spat his contempt. "I always hated you, but even when I had resurrected Zorc, I had a sense of honor. I respected you for yours. Now, you're pathetic." Kaiba chose to ignore the comment.

"If you two are done with this emotional talk, I'll end my turn with a facedown card."

(Kagemaru: 2750, Kaiba: 1500, Bakura: 10050)

Kaiba emotionlessly drew. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." The facedown card appeared horizontally in front of him.

Bakura snapped the next card of his deck. "As powerful as your Uria might be, it doesn't have any immunities. That will be a great cause of concern for you, as I'm about to activate the magic card to destroy it! I play Dealings with a Dark Lord, which lets me special summon a Dark World monster from my hand. Normally, Dark World monsters have effects that activate if they're discarded by an opponent's card effect. Through the effect of Dealings with a Dark Lord, my monster's effect will activate. Welcome to the field… Goldd, Wu-Lord of the Dark World (2300/1400)!"

Suddenly, a huge gold-colored Monster in gold armor, holding a huge axe, materialized on the field.

"When he's summoned, he can blow away two of your cards. Unfortunately, it will only work on one of you. Obviously, it would be Kagemaru. Goldd, activate your special ability and obliterate Kagemaru's field!" The large monster nodded in sick delight, and hefted up his axe.

With a howl, it charged across the field, bringing the weapon to bear. Even as it did, Uria fired a small sphere of fire in its direction. Goldd dodged easily, and rushed continued on. Steeling itself, it heaved its mighty thigh muscles and catapulted into the air. With a single slice of its titanic battle-axe, Uria's head had toppled off. Kagemaru's eyes widened as Goldd leapt over the falling corpse and with another flick of its wrist shattered his facedown card.

"Aha…. I can still chain it to Goldd's effect. My facedown Wabuko will protect me from its attack." Bakura grimaced as Goldd looked at him and shrugged. "I wasn't planning on attacking either ways. Sin Symbol – Sloth is too valuable."

Still, this put Kagemaru in a worse position than before. He had lost both his Legendary Demons, and was faced with a monster that had twenty-three hundred attack points.

"If you're not too busy, I'll take my turn," said Kagemaru, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, of course. I end my turn."

Kagemaru drew, and a dark smile spread across his face. "It ends here."

Bakura seemed amused. "Hardy har har, Kagemaru. I think you're in the wrong profession. Many a circus would benefit from your good sense of humor." Kagemaru ignored him.

Kaiba ignored the joke, and chose to simply stare emotionlessly into the shadows. "I activate Monster Reborn, to revive Fiend Skull Paladin (6600/2400)." Bakura gulped as the powerful demon appeared. It could easily take a large chunk out of his life-points now.

"Oh, I'm not using this fellow to take you out. He's powerful, but if he's special summoned from the graveyard, his effect states that he'll float around for a turn before being removed from play. So you see, I'm playing De-Fusion, splitting him back into Summoned Skull (2500/1200) and Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500)."

The grotesque paladin split back into the fiend of lightning and the deadly soldier. Both growled at their master's opponents. "Aye," agreed Bakura wearily. "Your Skull is more than enough to destroy Goldd." Kagemaru gave him a piercing look.

"I'm not done yet. I activate my Meteor Demon's effect, which lets me special summon him from the graveyard when I wish, as long as I pay a thousand life-points if he ever attacks." The bulky, rocky demon covered in hellfire appeared (1900/1500).

"_**And now…. It is truly the end. I sacrifice my three fiends to summon the strongest of the three! The ultimate power of the Legendary Demons! Gentlemen, I want to introduce you to Raviel, Lord of the Phantasms (4000/4000)!"**_

The three smaller token creatures vanished in a flash of light as an ominous purple cloud formed on the field. Through the cloud came two massive blue wings with thin see-through skin, large blue horns at the top, and powerful sharp talon like claws attached to purple hands came out of the darkness. Slowly, the cloud diminished, and the rest of the creature came into view. Its body consisted of purple and light blue. It had massive chiseled out abs, muscular arms and legs, and finally a strong head with a strange crown like set of horns.

It looked like a twisted version of Obelisk the Tormentor, although its power was roughly in the league of the Winged Dragon of Ra.

"What the…. What the hell is that thing?" gasped Bakura. Even Kaiba, the man of iron, looked like he had been shaken to the core by the appearance of this new creature.

Kagemaru spoke in a chilling voice. "Raviel is Death. To speak of one is to speak of the other. He is the strongest of the Demons, and is the rough equivalent of the Winged Dragon of Ra. He will obliterate you, succeeding where Uria and Hamon failed."

Bakura frowned. At first look, Raviel was a simple beatstick with four thousand attack points. But being the most powerful of Kagemaru's creeps, it would surely have much more. "I summon Giant Orc (2200/0)."

A large gray looking orc creature with a brown cloth acting like a pair of pants and a large bone club in his right hand materialized onto the field. "I activate Raviel's ability, which allows me to sacrifice a monster to him allowing me to boost his attack points by the monster's own power." Bakura groaned. "_Damn_."

The Giant Orc disappeared in a puff of noxious smoke, which was absorbed by Raviel (6200/4000). "Now, obliterate his Goldd!" Bakura growled in anger as the titanic demon let out a battle roar. "You forget about Sin Symbol – Sloth. As long as it's on the field, I cannot be attacked."

"Really? I play Mystical Space Typhoon, obliterating your only hope of protecting yourself." Bakura gasped as a tornado rushed onto the field and shattered his continuous magic card.

The large blue and purple creature stepped forward and pulled back its massive clawed right hand. In a simple thrust forward, the creature pierced the unfortunate monster, which instantly shattered, leaving the large blue and purple creature with nothing on its claw.

Bakura's eyes bulged. What kind of insanely powerful creature was this? He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his gut as his life-points trickled away.

"Fortunately for you, Raviel's boost only lasts for the turn. Next turn, he'll annihilate you!"

(Kagemaru: 2750, Kaiba: 1500, Bakura: 6150)

Kaiba picked his next card off his deck. "I set another monster in defense mode, and add a facedown card."

Kagemaru gave a deep chuckle at this. Bakura frowned, and drew. His best bet was to play defensive for now. He couldn't take on Raviel in direct combat… No, only Kaiba could do that. But the CEO didn't seem fazed by the Legendary Demon's power. If only Kaiba could break out of this state, he could help.

"I follow Kaiba's example and play nothing other than two facedowns, a monster and a magic or trap card." The two brown-backed cards appeared, dwarfed by the massive Demon.

Kagemaru drew with exaggerated laziness. "I activate Fiend's Retribution. It lets me summon all copies of a fiend-type monster in my deck, graveyard and hand that is a level four or lower monster. It cannot attack and is destroyed by my end phase. I choose Giant Orc."

The three ogres appeared again, clutching their boney clubs. "Now, I sacrifice all three to Raviel." Bakura's growled as Raviel (10600/4000) shimmered with black energy. "Pretty useless. Our monsters are in defense mode, if you didn't notice that."

"Perhaps. Everything will change if I play Meteorain, which gives all monsters on my field trample until the turn ends." Bakura gasped. It had over ten thousand attack points, plus trample! This was just insane.

"Now, attack Bakura's facedown monster with Phantom Fist!" The gigantic creature growled and its fist began to glow. With a roar, it rushed forward and punched the facedown card, revealing it to be another Zure, Knight of the Dark World (1800/1600).

"It deals you 9000 points of damage. For more than you have." Bakura chuckled. "Sorry, I activate my facedown Dark World Defense. It saves me from all battle damage when a fiend is attacked."

A wall of black wind swirled around Bakura, preventing the massive fist from continuing on. Kagemaru snarled in anger, yet he ended his turn.

Kaiba drew. There was not much he could do at this rate. Four thousand attack points was too difficult for him to defeat, especially without his Blue Eyes White Dragons. "I set one monster facedown and end my turn."

Bakura drew, and instantly his eyes went glassy. A sick grin spread across his face. "I bet that you think that you've done rather well. You've taken me to a point where it seems like there is no hope, and as far as the Shadow Game is concerned, the three of us are even. But you must understand, everything I've done up until now was simple fortification."

"What do you mean?" snarled Kagemaru.

"I mean that I've been playing it defensively this whole time. I haven't revealed my true strategy. But now, let it be unleashed! I sacrifice my facedown monster for the power of the grave itself. The deadliest being there is. I summon Diabound Carnal (1800/1200)!!"

With renewed strength he slapped the card onto his Duel Disk, and it seemed like the air temperature dropped several degrees.

The monster was about ten feet in length total, with pale grey skin. The upper body was like that of a man-a very well built man- with rippling muscles and sturdy arms. The face was sharp, like a predators, with two thick triangular horns reaching out of the sides like ears, while a third, much thinner horn extended from his forehead, and another small one from his chin. A pair of small white wings extended out of his back as well. However, in place of legs, his torso thinned down to become a long snake body, with the vipers head at the end. It was a truly marvelous and at the same time frightening creature.

A dark aura emanated from the creature. Kagemaru glanced at it patronizingly. "Bah! A pathetic excuse for a monster. Why, it's weaker than your Goldd! Raviel can crush this beast with ease!"

"You are…. So very wrong. Diabound Carnal is packed with my full strength, and he will obliterate you. You see, he is the incarnation of my Ka from five millennia ago. I assume you know what a Ka is?" he sneered at Kagemaru.

"Of course," nodded the evil duelist. "It is the soul monster of a person. A shadow of a person built by fragments of your soul. It is bound by your will while your survive, but persists to exist for an eternity after one dies. Almost like a guardian angel."

"Diabound, however, is unlike other Ka," spat Bakura. "He is the most unique one to ever exist, which also makes him among the most powerful. You see, it began five thousand years ago."

He muttered something, and the black shadows around them began to change color until the three found themselves in a perfect representation of an Egyptian village five millennia previously. "Egypt was under threat of an attacking army. Their own army had been weakened by another war, and could not stand up to the attack. The Pharaoh Akunumkanon wished to save his people no matter what the cost. His sick mind began spilling with ideas of the occult."

The scene changed to show a battalion of armed soldiers herding villagers into a cave, which had been reconstructed into an occult temple. Kagemaru watched in sick fascination as dozens of villagers were knocked unconscious and bound together. They were thrown underneath massive cauldrons, and to the horror of those watching, molten gold was poured all over them.

"Akunumkanon commanded one of his Guardians, Aknadin, to use his knowledge of magic to find a way to save Egypt. In answer to this order, Aknadin sacrificed the entire village of Kul Elna to forge the legendary Millennium Items, powerful objects that gave the wielder control over different aspects of Shadow Magic. They decimated the opposing army, and Akunumkanon's reign of terror set in."

A creepy grin crossed his face. "They didn't realize that one villager of Kul Elna had survived." His grin broadened. "IT WAS ME!" he laughed. "I roamed the unforgiving desert, crossing the burning sand and bearing the cruel sun until I thought it was over. Only my hate for Akunumkanon and his line kept me pressing on. My hate kept me pressing on."

The scene changed to a much younger version of Bakura, panting as he trudged across the scalding sand of the desert. "I began to eat snakes. I followed them across many miles until I could capture them without fear of losing my chance. Strangely enough, one of the hunts led me back to the cave where it all began."

Wide-eyed, the younger Bakura stared at a massive cave with the remains of a snake in his hand. He ventured in. "A stone collapsed, blocking the entrance. Luckily, I found a small spring of water. I ate what unfortunate animals found their way into the cave." Bakura was now crouched over a small hole, lapping up some water desperately.

"When the water got over, I resigned my self to die. My hate and rage was unparalleled at that time. I hadn't gotten my revenge." Kagemaru watched with interest as a group of wraiths suddenly surrounded the unconscious boy.

"_Kill_," they whispered. "_Pillage! __**Destroy! AVEGNGE!!!**_" The wraiths grew in number. The boy awoke, and seemed to be in a trance. Suddenly, it seemed like smoke was leaving his body. It formed a shape, and the shape gained color.

It was a figure with a mans torso, only with horns and small wings on his back and with a snakes body in place of the legs, the serpents head making the tip of this tail. "Diabound was born from my hatred and anger! It has my full power behind it! I will use it to win this duel and obliterate you!"

Once again, he broke out into maniacal laughter as the images around them shattered. Kagemaru seemed impressed, while Kaiba was bored.

"As entertaining as your story was, I'm afraid that the fact remains that Raviel is to strong for you circus freak," sneered Kagemaru. "Plus, his effect activates. Each time a new monster is Normal Summoned, I get to special summon a Phantasm Token (1000/1000) to the field. I shall place this one in defense mode."

Slowly materializing onto the field was a small blue and purple creature that looked like a miniature version of the larger demon. "No matter," dismissed Bakura.

"You see, I'm activating this next card to end this. I call it Salvation of the Wicked!" He chuckled as Diabound glowed with black energy. "It works for fiend monsters only. I can now attack every defense mode monster on one of your fields, and they are destroyed, regardless of defense points. So, attack each and every one of those weak monsters with Helical Shockwave!"

The large demon raised its hand, and it began to ripple with electricity. With a shriek, it flung the attack forward, releasing waves of static at the four monsters. The first one to be hit was one of Kaiba's monsters. It was the Familiar Knight (1200/1400), a short monster dressed in gray armor with orange hair.

Suddenly, Diabound's attack points jumped to 2400. "You see, Diabound Carnal gains half the original attack points of every monster he destroys." Kagemaru shrugged. "No matter. No matter at all."

"Oh yes it does. You see, the Familiar Knight's effect activates, and forces each one of us to special summon a level four monster from our hands. So I'm glad to summon my Demon Enchantress (1200/1800) in defense mode." A strange, female magician appeared. Her eyes were red, and ears pointed. Long nails sprouted from her fingers, and a black cloak covered her lithe body.

"Demon Enchantress lets use each draw an extra card in our next draw phase if any monsters are destroyed in battle this turn. But first, choose your cards, gentlemen." Kagemaru grunted and summoned his Creator Incarnate (1600/1500) in defense mode. A golden armored warrior then appeared standing tall, a long, crimson blade in one hand.

Kaiba smirked, and summoned Rare Metal Dragon (2400/1200) in defense mode. It was covered with purple scales, and had no wings. It looked like a Stegosaurus without spikes.

"Now, Diabound, obliterate the Rare Metal Dragon!" It shrieked, and forming a ball of the ethereal flames, Diabound fired a column of light aimed at the new dragon. It was burned away, and Diabound's (3600/1200) strength rose. "Now, attack Kaiba's last monster! Helical Shockwave!"

Once again Diabound sent out a wave of electricity, shattering the facedown monster. It was Luster Dragon (1900/1600). Bakura laughed in glee. "Diabound (4550/1200) is now strong enough to crush your demon!" he laughed.

"I've heard of Salvation of the Wicked," said Kagemaru quietly. "It doesn't allow you to attack any monsters in attack mode," he smirked.

Bakura shrugged. "I've got an excellent monster on the field. Salvation of the Wicked works for only a turn, so I'll do my stuff next turn."

"I end my turn with a facedown." Diabound Carnal glowed slightly.

Kagemaru picked two cards of his deck, thanks to the effect of Demon Enchantress. "Fool! I sacrifice my Phantasm Token to Raviel, boosting his attack points to five thousand!" The smaller token demon disappeared, and the smoke was absorbed by the original beast that it came from.

"Now, Raviel, decimate his Diabound Carnal with Phantom Fist!" It took a massive step forward, and attempted to punch forward and hit its opponent. "I activate Dark Wabuko," sneered Bakura. A group of demonic warriors appeared, and surrounded the Diabound Carnal.

"It negates the attack, and instead of reducing the damage to zero, I receive the life-point damage that I would, while you lose double!" The warriors snarled, and jabbed Raviel with their various, spear-like weapons. It growled and stepped back. Bakura smiled deviously as his life-points, as well as Kagemaru's, took a hit.

"I…. end my turn by playing a facedown card."

(Kagemaru: 1850, Kaiba: 1500, Bakura: 5700)

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Joey was in trouble. He had Gilford. It was his only hope of making it through this duel, with a mighty thirty-six hundred attack points. He had added a few support cards that had released when Gilford started to become popular. He would need everything to face this menace.

"I switch Gilford to defense, and set a card facedown."

Zane smirked and drew. "Cyberdark Dragon, obliterate his Gilford!" Joey grunted. "I activate Wabuko!" The strange, three-headed monster shrieked and let out a black energy blast from each mouth. The three attacks merged and were about to burn Gilford to ashes when a group of robed men appeared. They began to chant, warding off the attack.

"Hiding behind these defenses won't save you, Mr. Wheeler!" said Zane, a touch of annoyance present in his voice.

"I end my turn for now."

Joey drew. "I summon Apprentice of Gilford (1900/1600)!" A smaller version of Gilford appeared. It held a much shorter sword, and its features were not as hardened as the original. He growled at Zane. Gilford nodded at the new arrival.

"I activate my new monster's effect, which lets me reduce his attack points by any amount, to boost the original Gilford's attack points by the same. I reduce it to zero. If that happens, it's also automatically destroyed. This puts Gilford's attack points at a much higher amount." As his apprentice shattered, the original master of lightning raised his sword. A bolt of lightning struck him, and his stats skyrockted (5500/1400).

"Most impressive, but useless. Cyberdark Dragon is too strong," Zane smirked.

"I don't think so. I equip Gilford with Ultimate Hurricane! It works for any card with Gilford in its name; it adds its original attack points to its current score!" Zane gasped as Gilford's attack power shot up to a huge 7300.

"Attack with Thunderbolt Cut!" roared Joey. The powerful warrior raised its sword, and with a battle-cry, heaved it downward. A bolt of lightning crackled across the field. It hit the mechanical dragon's chest. It screamed in pain and attempted to force its way forward, but it didn't work. With another roar, Gilford intensified the barrage of lightning, and the Cyberdark Dragon finally gave in. It shattered into millions of pixel, much to Zane's dismay.

"I end my turn!"

(Joey: 6200, Zane: 4300)

Zane drew, and grinned. "You may have destroyed Cyberdark Dragon, but the power of my Cyber-Style deck! I play the field magic card, Cyber Techno Kingdom!" A strange array of glowing buildings appeared around them. A larger castle appeared behind Zane, and it glowed extra-bright.

"It gives every card with 'Cyber' in its name or any part of its card text five hundred more attack points. So watch as I now special summon my third Cyber Dragon (2100 + 500 2600/1600)!" The snake-like, metallic dragon appeared. Its eyes flashed as the field card boosted its strength.

"It's about a third as strong as Gilford. There was no point in that." "Are you sure?" taunted Zane.

"I activate Heart of the Cyber Dragon, which lets me sacrifice a Cyber monster on my field to destroy another on your field." Joey gasped as the Cyber Dragon exploded in an influx of light. The wave of energy hit Gilford, and it was torn apart by the sheer power of it. It was able to salute Joey with its sword before it was gone.

"No…. Gilford…." he mumbled. "It was a worthy opponent, but needed to go if I am to win. Heart of the Cyber Dragon let's me draw a card for every two thousand extra attack points your monster had over mine. He looked at the new card. "I set a card facedown and end my turn."

Joey drew, and heaved a breath. "I play the Card of Sanctity." Both of them drew till they had six cards in their hand.

"All right! I summon Red Eyes Black Chick (800/500)!"

A tiny red egg materialized in front of Joey. The top of the egg cracked, and popped open, revealing the tiny black head of a baby dragon. "Next I sacrifice him to special summon Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000)!"

The creature then underwent a massive mutation...and grew into an adult dragon with extremely huge wings and pitch-dark scales on its body. Its red eyes flashed menacingly, and a horrible set of fangs could be seen inside its mouth.

"Next I'll have him attack you directly!" Zane growled. "I activate Negate Attack!" A spinning vortex appeared between Zane and the Red Eyes' ball of flames. The attack was absorbed.

Joey frowned. "I end my turn with a facedown."

Zane drew, and grinned. "I activate Monster Reborn, for my Cyber End Dragon (4000 + 500 4500/2800)!" The field soon began to glow with a blinding blue light, making it impossible to see the field. Once the light died down, a large three headed machine snake like dragon with massive wings on its back let out a mighty roar.

Joey gasped. "Why the hell did you have to bring that thing back?" he mumbled.

Zane smirked. "Cyber End Dragon, Super Strident Blaze!" Zane called out and pointed at the powerful black dragon.

Roaring in response, the three headed dragon opened each of its jaws. Taking aim, each of the three heads released a burst of white energy, which twisted into one large white stream of energy. It hit the large beast, which let out a roar of pain before shattering.

Joey gave a growl. "Man… I'm going to GET you for that!"

"I don't think so. I end my turn."

(Joey: 4100, Zane: 4300)

Joey drew his next card slowly. He sighed. "I set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn with a facedown."

Zane smirked. "Is that all you can do? I draw." He looked over his hand. "Now, time to end this! Cyber End Dragon, attack his monster." Even as the titanic machine began to charge up its attack, Zane continued, "As I'm sure you know, my dragon has trample, so your chances of survival after the attack are minimal."

Joey groaned. He was hoping to save this card for when he really needed it, but he wasn't willing to take all that damage. "I activate Retribution Dice!" A gambler appeared behind Joey, all dressed in a suit, and grasping a dice. He flung it into the air, and it came rolling onto a three.

"Yes!" Joey pumped his fist into the air even as the dragon fired its attack. "Retribution Dice reduces damage by a thousand multiplied by the number the dice falls on. If its brought to zero, it means that the monster isn't destroyed." The gambler smirked and flung his dice in the way of the attack. The small object absorbed the blast, and returned to its owner, who flashed Joey a victory sign and disappeared.

Zane growled. "Very well. But Cyber Techno Kingdom lets me draw a card in my End Phase if an attack by a machine monster was unsuccessful." Joey groaned.

"I'll set a card facedown and end my turn." He drew his card.

Joey smirked as he saw his next card. "Activate Gift of the Fallen! If I have two level seven or higher monsters in my graveyard, I can draw cards equal to half the cards in your hand."

Joey fanned out his hand of five cards. "Time to destroy Cyber End Dragon! I play Bolt from the Blue! It lets me sacrifice a warrior type monster to special summon Gilford the Lightning from my graveyard and activate its special ability!"

Zane gasped as the facedown Swordsman of Landstar (500/1200) vanished, only to be replaced by the mighty warrior who had been a thorn in his side since the duel began. "Raigeki Blade!" The deadly knight raised his blade once again, and a bolt of lightning shattered the Cyber End Dragon.

"Now, attack him directly with Thunderbolt Cut!" Zane raised his arms in a futile defense as Gilford leapt across the field. His sword, charged with electricity, descended upon Zane, who grunted at the large amount of damage.

"I see… That's quite impressive." Joey smirked. "I'm just getting started, man. I'm just getting started."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was Seto's turn. He drew calmly, eyeing both Diabound Carnal and Raviel with careful presicion. Each one was powerful in its own right… Yet compared to the power he possessed, they were nothing. "Now…. I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Bakura was surprised that Kaiba was playing defense to such an extent, but then again, both him and Kagemaru had monsters with four thousand plus attack points.

Bakura drew, and his smirk broadened. "Diabound, blow away Raviel once and for all with Helical Shockwave!"

The terrible fiend started to power up its wave of lethal electricity. Kagemaru snarled. "I activate Repressed Suffering. If a fiend monster on my field has been previously attacked by a monster stronger than it, its attack points become equal to those of the attacking monster." Raviel grunted as its muscles bulked up and its attack points rose to forty-five hundred and fifty.

Bakura snarled. "Fine! I'll attack Kaiba's facedown monster instead, to strengthen Diabound so that he can obliterate you next turn." Diabound fired a wave of dark electricity at the facedown monster. It was shattered, and the other two caught a short glance to reveal it as his Blade Knight (1600/1000). Diabound Carnal (5350/1200) was now truly powerful…..

"I end my turn with a facedown."

Kagemaru gave a deep chuckle. "I set a monster in defense mode and set a card facedown. End turn."

Kaiba drew. "I summon Diamond Blader (1900/1600) in attack mode." A sleek warrior appeared, dressed completely in black armor. He seemed to be made of diamond instead of flesh and blood. He raised a powerful European broadsword.

"A weak beast," sneered Bakura. "Perhaps. But first I play Graceful Charity." He examined the new hand he possessed. "I activate Diamond Sword Summoning, which can be activated from my graveyard at any time. If Diamond Blader is on the field, I can summon my powerful Hyozanryu (2100/2800) from my deck!"

A long, sinuous dragon appeared. It too, seemed to be made of diamond, and its eyes opened to reveal a glare. "Now I union Diamond Blader with Hyozanryu to summon a new creature!" The dragon and warrior disappeared in an influx of light. The new monster was little different" The Diamond Blader was simply mounted on the powerful dragon. It swung its sword in an arc in the air.

"My Diamond Blade Dragon (3500/2900) may not be powerful enough to combat Raviel and Diabound, but it's effects make up. It cannot be destroyed in battle."

Kagemaru smirked. "You've still given us an open target by summoning it in attack mode." "I don't plan to let it be destroyed," said Kaiba, unperturbed. "I am going to use it to destroy your monsters."

"You lie!" roared Bakura. "Nothing short of a Megamorph can save you now."

"Wrong again. I activate Diamond Blade Dragon's effect. When it is special summoned by union, I can remove Hyozanryu and Diamond Blader from play, to destroy up to two monsters on the field. I choose to obliterate Raviel and Diabound Carnal!"

Kagemaru and Bakura both gasped. The terrible dragon reared off the ground and roared. With a crash it landed again, and pinning its wings to its side, it took off. The warrior pointed it's sword out, and took off. The duo were enveloped in a bright light, and it seemed like they were simply a glowing cone flying towards the two demons.

Raviel was the first to go. It was hit in the chest by the dragon. He snarled and attempted to swat it away with his massive arms, but it was futile. The monster erupted out the other end. Raviel staggered. "No, Raviel!" roared Kagemaru. With a roar, it fell to the ground even as it began to disappear into pearls of light.

"Now, for the Diabound Carnal!" In response, Diabound fired a Helical Shockwave in the Diamond Blade Dragon's direction. The combination creature flew right threw it, and instantly shattered the snake-like demon.

Bakura's eyes flashed, but then his grin widened. "It was a foolish move to destroy Diabound Carnal! See, when he's destroyed, I can play this quick-play spell card, Birth of Evil! When Diabound Carnal is destroyed by my opponent, I can remove it from play to special summon its evolved form. Meet Diabound Spirit (3400/2500)!"

The monster that took Diabound's place actually looked a great deal like Diabound Carnal, only much bigger, with actual claws in place of fingers and a feral face with large fangs. It also had green skin, and the wings had become very demonic in appearance. "This is the invincible version of Diabound, the one that defeated Slifer the Sky Dragon in single combat! It will now destroy you."

Kaiba ignored this, as did Kagemaru. "I don't care," spat Kaiba. "I end my turn."

Bakura drew with deliberate slowness, savoring the fact that he could end Kagemaru now. He considered. It would seem wise to end the Legendary Demon duelist now, but Kaiba too, had a powerful monster that could destroy Diabound Spirit the next turn. Yes, for now he would finish Kaiba.

"I activate Diabound Spirit's effect. By removing a fiend in my graveyard from play, I can reduce one of your monster's attack points by two hundred for every level of the monster. I choose Goldd, Wu-Lord of the Dark World (2300/1400). It's a level five." Kaiba's eyes widened as his Diamond Blade Dragon (2500/2900) dropped in strength so that it was weaker than Diabound Spirit.

"Attack with Death Spiral!" Raising both palms, this Diabound connected his wrists and formed a large ball of dark energy which it turned into a stream of purple flames, consuming the dragon. It let out a slow, mournful moan of pain before it disappeared.

Bakura smirked at this. "Victory is mine. I end my turn."

(Kagemaru: 1850, Kaiba: 600, Bakura: 5700)

Kagemaru drew, and snarled viciously. "You fools should have finished me when you'll had the chance. Now I am going to strike back with a vengeance you cannot hope to comprehend! I play Gift of the Demon, which lets me draw a card for every fiends in my graveyard. I have Raviel, Summoned Skull, Archfiend Soldier, Fiend Skull Paladin, and Meteor Demon. So I get five cards."

He examined his new hand with satisfaction. "I play the magic card Substitute Beast, which acts as a level six or lower monster in any of our graveyards or removed from play piles. It can't attack or defend my life-points, nor can it be sacrificed to summon monsters." A shimmery outline of gas appeared, and morphed into Goldd, Wu-Lord of the Dark World (2300/1400).

"Next I sacrifice it to play this: Five Star Twilight!" The demon disappeared, and suddenly five stars descended from the ceiling above them. They were different colors, and they began to form into furballs with small, yellow eyes, each of a different color as well, corresponding with the star color.

"All I had to do was sacrifice a five star or higher monster so I could special summon the Kuriboh Brothers. Kuriboh (300/200), Kuribe (300/200), Kuribi (300/200), Kuriba (300/200), and Kuribu (300/200)!"

Bakura and Kaiba stared at them incredulously. "You're playing _Kuriboh_……" said Bakura, before promptly bursting into laughter.

Kagemaru smirked. "I use a fiend deck. Kuriboh is a deadly card if used correctly. I can show you its true potential. I play Mystic Plasma Zone, to boost dark monster's attack points by five hundred, and reduces its defense points by four hundred." The five Kuriboh brothers (800/0) had grown slightly stronger, while Diabound Spirit (3900/2100) dwarfed everything on the field. The shadows around them lost what little light they allowed to pass through, and began to swirl around the three duelists.

"Next I play Negative Energy! It's a powerful normal magic card that doubles the attack points of every dark monster that is currently on my field." The five furballs glowed as their attack points grew to sixteen hundred, which made them moderately powerful.

"Next I activate their special ability, which allows me to combine them to summon the mighty Kuribabylon!" The five brothers united, and the result was grayish-black Kuriboh with a horn in the middle of its forehead. But the application of the shadow's dark power changed it, giving it horrendous fangs and making it truly demonic.

"It has the combined attack and defense points of the five brothers of which it is comprised," said Kagemaru darkly. Bakura gasped.

"It's… it's…." "It's enough to finish your Diabound Spirit. I could attack Kaiba, but next turn you'd just use your monster's effect to weaken Kuribabylon. So in that case, I'll have Diabound Spirit be attacked by Kuribabylon (8500/0)!"

The demonic monster jumped across the field, its horn pointing straight towards the strange beast. It shrieked and jabbed it with its horn. Diabound Spirit moaned in pain and before it could counter, it shattered. Bakura stared in horror.

"Diabound…. Gone?" It seemed more like a question than a statement. Kagemaru smirked. "Don't ridicule Kuriboh again."

The look on Bakura's face turned to anger. "YOU WILL PAY!" he roared. "No one destroys my Ka! I WILL KILL YOU!"

"Roles are reversed, aren't they?" chuckled Kagemaru, while Kaiba watched the exchange coldly.

"I end my turn with a facedown," he laughed.

(Kagemaru: 1850, Kaiba: 600, Bakura: 1100)

Kaiba drew. "I activate Monster Reborn, to special summon Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) from the grave!" Kagemaru looked bored as the deadly dragon appeared once more. "Nothing Kuribabylon can't take care of, you fool."

"It could, but only if it is on the field. I will send it to the graveyard with this: Burst Stream of Destruction!" Kagemaru froze as the metallic dragon opened its maw, and frothing, blue energy formed there. With a titanic roar, it let lose all the energy in the Kuribabylon. It roared in rage and attempted to fend off the energy with its horn, but it was no use. It was immediately blown to shreds by the attack.

The explosion seemed to rock the entire building. When everything steadied, Kaiba glanced coldly at Kagemaru. "I cannot attack as per the rules of using Burst Stream of Destruction. I end my turn for now."

Bakura drew, knowing that Kaiba had the advantage once more. "_Damn…. I can't do anything here._ _Perhaps…_" "I set a card facedown in defense mode and end my turn."

Kagemaru drew. A truly evil smile crossed his face. "The end is upon you. I will win now. I summon this, Dark Summons God (0/0)."

Materializing onto the field was a strange looking creature that had large red wings with grey in them, a red kilt wrapped around it's waist that stretched to the ground, a mostly dull black looking skin, long arms, a strange head with a pair of horns that stretched up and down, and a pair of thick shoulder pads.

Bakura frowned. "I've seen some horrible creatures in my time, but damn, this guy really is the pits." Kagemaru ignored him.

"By sacrificing him, I can bring back three old friends. You might remember the three, for they're the ones that I nearly used to finish you!" A bead of sweat dripped down Bakura's face.

"I sacrifice my Dark Summons God, so be gone and return my three Legendary Demons: Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000/4000); Raviel, Lord of Phantasm (4000/4000); and Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (10000/10000)!"

Slowly, the dull black creature disintegrated, but immediately upon his disappearance, the ground began shaking, the sky darkened with lightning flashing brilliantly, and a tower of flames came shooting out of the ground.

The first creature to arise was a large dull yellow creature with massive thin skinned wings, thin arms with large clawed tips on it's hands, red glowing eyes, two large horns and a chin like horn on it's head, a long powerful tail, and sharp claws and fangs.

Rising up from the ground was a thick purple fog, which seemed to be forming a cloud. Through the cloud came two massive blue wings with thin see-through skin, large blue horns at the top, and powerful sharp talon like claws attached to purple hands came out of the darkness. Slowly, the cloud diminished, and the rest of the creature came into view. It's body consisted of purple and light blue. It had massive chiseled out abs, muscular arms and legs, and finally a strong head with a strange crown like set of horns.

The final creature soon began to appear from within the tower of flames. Out of the flames came a set of large red wings that had thin skin covering them that appeared to be attached to arms. Slowly, a red snake like body with a grey underbelly appeared from the flames that had many scales. The head of the monster had many spikes, and it had a massive set of sharp teeth.

Together, the three creatures roared once more, making the entire building shake at their power.

"Luckily for you, my three beasts are unable to attack on the turn they are summoned through the effect of Dark Summons God. Therefore, I'll end my turn, backed with eighteen thousand attack points worth of monsters on my field."

Kaiba drew. He had finally taken notice of the seriousness of the situation, giving the Legendary Demons a worried glance. "I can combat them. I play my powerful magic card, Legend of the Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

The other two duelists stared at him curiously. "When I have one Blue Eyes on the field, and at least one more in my graveyard, I can play half my life-points to summon the other two from wherever they currently are." The one dragon on the field glowed and let out an earth-shattering roar. Two more dragons materialized next to it. The three roared at the Legendary Demons, who roared back.

"Interesting…" chuckled Kagemaru. "The Legendary Demons versus the Blue Eyes White Dragons… A battle the likes of which haven't been seen for millennia."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The lithe figure entered the spacious room, a frown across marring its features. "This should be the right one… I didn't steal the Winged Dragon of Ra for nothing, after all."

A massive man strode out of the darkness, which seemed to part for him to make it through. "Of course not. I've been expecting you… Ms. Gardner." "And I you, Anubis. And I you."

**I'm out for 15 days, so please just review!!!!!!! The three way duel is on a mind-blowing forty-four turns, and there is a lot left. Cya, and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**


	34. Prince of Darkness, Part 2

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: Prince of Darkness, Part 2

**Can you believe I got this chapter done in one week? Seventeen thousand words in one **_**week**_**? Man! This is a Christmas-New Years present to all my readers.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: This is no 'Death T' Kaiba. It will all be explained in the next few chapters. Marik is not controlling Tea. Her strange behavior will be explained soon enough as well. I created that guy because Vorse Raider is my favorite card after Blue Eyes White Dragon. Holidays were good, although New York was sub zero most of the time, lol.**

**Shadowcat: And here comes another thirty-nine turns of dueling this chapter.**

**DuelistBlake1852: Thanks for all the comments, my man. Thing is, my writing level was a bit mediocre then. At the risk of sounding immodest, I've gotten better. Anyway, I'm glad you like the story and have taken the time to add it to your favorite.**

**Enjoy the seventeen thousand word chapter, ladies and gentlemen.**

Yami felt it. The pulse of energy was coming from somewhere else in the building, and calling it enormous was an understatement. It was emitted by six huge sources, and obviously, it had to be caused by the Shadow Realm.

He could feel the gods in his deck sending out their own power in answer. He was about to continue on, when he froze. He could only feel two gods. Obelisk and Slifer.

In a frenzy, Yami pulled out his deck and flicked through it. His eyes widened. Ra was gone.

"_Ra has been stolen!_" he gasped to Yugi. His partner was unable to answer. Who could have stolen it?

"_We just used it against Arkana! That was about ten minutes ago! We haven't met anyone at all_," reasoned Yugi. "_Who says someone stole it physically? Anubis or Dartz could have just or easily used their own brand of magic to snatch it from my deck_."

"_No. It's not possible_," replied Yugi. "_Ra is the strongest god. It should have been able to withstand either influence. So it has to be someone else_." "_Who_?" sighed Yami. This just complicated things.

"_We still have two gods. We'll find this thief_." Yami agreed mentally. He closed his eyes and began to focus on all sources of energy in the building. Obviously, the one he had first sensed was the biggest. He tried to find a secondary one. Hmm…. There were three other massive energy signals. One was Dartz. One was Anubis. The third, was Ra's. It was strangely dormant, and worst of all, it was very near Anubis…..

He gasped. The person who had stolen Ra was planning to duel Anubis. He focused his magic on the person, trying to identify the energy signature. It was a little trick that the Millennium Puzzle had been able to perform. If the person was unaware that he was being mentally traced by the user of the Millennium Puzzle, Yami could actually delve secretly into their mind and identify them if their mental recesses were familiar.

He fell to his knees. "_What is it?!" _yelled Yugi. The one word that left Yami brought his hikari's world crashing to the floor. His hopes were left in dust.

"_**Tea**_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was back to Zane. He glanced at Gilford the Lightning. It had twenty-eight hundred attack points, impressive by its own standards, but with Zane's machine beatdown deck, it wasn't that high. All he had to do was find a combo that would beat it. Three of his four strongest monsters had been beaten. It was no joke to take out Cyber Twin Dragon, Cyberdark Dragon and Cyber End Dragon all with the same monster.

Still, his ultimate machine was still waiting in the wings. It could crush him with ease, but it was horrible to defeat someone on his own side. Ending the match in a tie would be his best bet. He had to do this….

As Zane was about to draw, he stopped when he saw Joey frown. "What's wrong?" said Zane edgily. "Did you feel that?" asked Joey nervously. Zane stood still. Yes, he could feel the ground shaking. "What's going on?" he frowned. "I dunno-…" Before he could finish the sentence, he noticed a crack appearing in the ceiling. He gasped.

Zane looked up. The crack was growing. "Uh-oh….." A piece of rubble fell to the ground. The shaking continued. Joey looked around wildly. "We've gotta get out of here." Zane wasn't about to disagree. More plaster began to fall from the ceiling.

"The doors are impossible to break through. We have to make it through the windows," said Zane. Joey roared. "ARE YOU CRAZY? WE'RE ON THE SIXTY-THIRD FLOOR!" Zane shook his head. "Would you rather be crushed by the ceiling?" A piece of a brick hit Joey's shoulder.

"I'd prefer the window." Zane nodded, and deactivated his Duel Disk. For some reason, Joey didn't. Zane didn't take any notice, and shrugged off his trench coat. With a grunt, he whirled around and hit the bars with a brutal roundhouse kick. He gave a muffled groaned. It didn't make a difference.

"It's no good. We'll have to try and bludgeon our way out."

"There ain't no need for that," chuckled Joey, just dodging another brick. The ground was shaking more than ever. "Only the Shadow Realm could cause this. If its anywhere in close proximity with us, then Gilford should have it in him to attack a solid object. We could try the door" Zane shrugged. He didn't know much about Shadow magic, but if it helped them get out, he was game.

The two stepped back. "Thunderbolt Cut!" yelled Joey dramatically, pointing at the door for emphasis. With a nod, the warrior hefted up its sword. It crackled with electricity, and he fired it at the slab of metal. The bolt struck the door, and it immediately exploded. The two duelists ran for it. The room had really started to come apart now. An entire section of the ceiling just missed them. A shrapnel flew out of nowhere and scratched Zane's cheek.

They ran on into a corridor. It was falling apart as well. They continued running. "What kind of death-trap is this?" gasped Zane as he dodged a section of the wall that could have crushed his foot. They made a turn to find themselves face to face with a large window. The ceiling had started collapsing behind them, blocking off escape routes. "Damn… damn….damn…" muttered Joey. He suddenly noticed a chain hanging from the ledge of the floor above them.

He quickly pointed it out to Zane. It was adjacent to them. Zane gauged angles and distances. As it was swinging in the wind, it was roughly ten feet away at the minimum.

"Jump when I tell you," grunted Zane. "Whoever makes it will try to grab the other one." Joey groaned. "Why does the word 'try' not sound nice to these ears?" Zane ignored him. "NOW!"

Joey tightened his thigh muscles and with a grunt leapt forward as far as he could, flailing his arms. He grinned as one hand tightened around the chain. The other one grabbed Zane's hand. "Damn', you're heavy…."

Before Zane could reply, there was a crack. Joey looked up in fear to see the chain had broken. "No…." he whispered. The two of them hung their for exactly a second, before gravity began to do its work and the pair plummeted towards the ground.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The petite, five foot three Tea stared haughtily at the massive, six foot eight God of Death, Anubis. "So… what work do you have with me? I assume you want a quick death." He chuckled at his private joke.

Tea gave him a hard glare. "No. I came to end this madness forever. I came to kill you." Anubis raised an eyebrow. "Foolish mortal girl. Seto Kaiba himself was unable to overcome me. What makes you think you're going to have any better luck? Anyway, I always thought you were an idiotic cheerleader, not some sadistic wench."

"SHUT UP!" screamed Tea. Anubis stopped, and watched her in interest. She activated her Duel Disk.

"You wish to duel me? How pathetic." She ignored him as she fired off the holo projectors. "I don't plan to waste my time. Die." He raised his hand and fired a small sphere of black energy at the angel duelist. She looked up, and raised her own hand. The energy hit it, and disappeared instantly.

Anubis raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you have those kind of capabilities?" "Since I wanted to avenge Kaiba, Tristan and all the other people across history who have suffered at your hands."

Anubis shrugged. "Very well. I'm not doing anything here, simply waiting for the Pharaoh. I'd delight in slaughtering the Pharaoh's little girlfriend, even after beating his strongest rival. You'll make a good appetizer." "You're not even going to make it to the main course."

Anubis' demonic Duel Disk appeared on his arm. The part where cards were played resembled the wing of some kind of zombie dragon, and Tea noticed two red eyes blinking in the deck slot. His deck appeared. The wicked god gave Tea a patronizing grin. "Go first, why don't you?"

(Anubis: 8000, Tea: 8000)

Tea's voice was layered with hate. "I summon the Agent of Creation – Venus (1600/0) in attack mode." A golden angel with long flowing blond hair rose up on the field, her arms crossed over her chest and wings spread as wide as they could go. Hovering around here were three iridescent balls.

Anubis gave her a strange look, but didn't say anything. "Then I activate her ability, paying fifteen hundred life-points to special summon all three Mystical Shine Balls (500/500) in my deck." One by one, the three spheres hovered away from Venus and occupied a monster zone each.

"I now play the field magic card Sanctuary in the Sky!" A slot on the end of the Duel Disk popped open and she stuck the card onto the open slot. It then pulled back in and the Duel Disk slightly glowed. Quickly, the scenery of the duel changed. A blue sky with large white fluffy clouds appeared and a large stone building appeared behind Tea.

"I end my turn with a facedown card."

(Tea: 6500, Anubis: 8000)

Anubis drew, bored. "I play Polymerization, fusing Underworld Knight (2000/0) with Fury Devil Dragon (2300/1900) to summon Fury Dark Dragon Knight (3000/2000)." A grotesque knight appeared. He sat on a black horse, who was armored as well. His eyes shown red. In one hand he hefted up a lance. The other clutched a daemon-blade. The next monster to appear was a large dragon that looked like it really needed anger management. It looked like a zombie, and its wings were tattered. It saw Tea and her field and let out a horrible screech.

The two were now sucked into a portal, which was surrounded by mist. There was a bright light, and the mist began to clear. When it did, the knight was mounted on the dragon, but instead of a lance, he held only his blade.

Tea shrugged. "I don't particularly care." "Oh, but you should. When Fury Dark Dragon Knight is summoned, I can destroy up to three monsters that are weaker than him at the cost of allowing you to gain life-points equal to their combined attack points."

The three Mystical Shine Balls exploded. Tea didn't say anything as her life-points went up to 8000. "Fury Dark Dragon Knight, attack with Fury Wave!" The dragon opened its maw and let out a strange, black wave of fire. At the same time, the warrior slashed its sword downward so that a red wave of energy issued forth.

The two blasts coalesced and was about to hit Venus, when Tea spoke dryly. "I activate Draining Shield, to protect me from the attack and boost my life-points by your monster's attack points." An invisible shield appeared and blocked the attack. Anubis grimaced. "I end my turn."

(Tea: 11000, Anubis: 8000)

Tea drew. "I play Solemn Wishes, to gain five hundred life-points every time one of us draws a card. Next I play Painful Choice, which lets me select five cards from my deck. It's up to you to choose which four to send to the graveyard." Anubis laughed dryly at the five she held up. Three Repayment of Losses, a Heavy Storm and…. _the Winged Dragon of Ra_.

Anubis snarled. "Where the hell did you get that card, girl?" Tea ignored him. "Take your pick." "WHERE DID YOU GET IT?" Tea still chose not to answer him. He opened his palm and a sphere of energy appeared there.

Tea shook her head and spoke coldly. "This is the Tournament of Shadows. If you attempt to kill me physically during the duel, I will be saved and you will be crushed by the rules set down by the deities who created this thing."

The energy vanished in Anubis' hand. "How did you know that?" he asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "My sources are not important. Just pick the damn' card." Anubis looked at them. If Repayment of Losses was sent to the graveyard, she gained a card and five hundred life-points. If Ra was sent to the graveyard…. Well, it would make summoning it all too easy. If he let her have it, it would cost him allowing her three draws, but she would have to sacrifice three monsters, which he would make sure wasn't allowed.

"Fine," he growled. "Take Ra." Tea didn't say a word. Sending the other four cards into the graveyard, she added Ra to her hand and drew three more cards. She now had seven cards. "I play Renewal of Spells! If there are two or more normal magic cards of the same name in my graveyard, I can add them back to my hand. My choice is the three Repayment of Losses."

Anubis growled as she added them back to her hand. What was this girl planning?

"Then I set all three facedown on the field." "What are you playing at?" growled Anubis. "You'll see. I play Emergency Provisions, sacrificing all three again, to gain a thousand life-points and one card each."

Anubis was visibly stunned. What was this kind of deck? "Finally, I play the spell Infinite Cards, which makes sure there is no limit to the cards in my hand. I switch Venus to defense mode and set a card facedown. End turn."

(Tea: 17000, Anubis: 8000)

Anubis drew. He looked at his opponent. He really wished he had killed her before the duel began. She really new how to drag something on, and it irritated him. "I activate Hand from the Dark. By discarding a monster in my hand I can destroy all monsters on your field. So I discard Traitor Knight of Light blow away your Venus." Tea didn't look bothered as a bolt struck her angel.

Next I remove my three monsters from play to special summon Leo Sphinx (2400/1200) which lets me attack you directly only if my hand size surpasses yours. Unfortunately this is not the case, and it doesn't matter since you're wide open anyway. Fury Wave, Nemean Claw!"

The zombie-like dragon let out a wave of unholy flames, and the sphinx was about to slash Tea with its massive claws. "I activate Angelic Rage. If a fairy was destroyed outside of battle this turn, I can destroy all monsters on the field that are stronger than it and gain the attack points of all that belonged to my opponent as life-points."

A card depicting a blue-skinned angel with a sword appeared. There was a flash, and the same angel rushed through the darkness and beheaded both of Anubis' monsters. He roared in anger. "I WILL END YOU!"

"End you turn first," spat Tea. The God of Death knew he couldn't do anything else. "Fine… I set one card and end my turn."

(Tea: 22900, Anubis: 8000)

"I play Pot of Greed." The green, grinning pot appeared, and she snapped two cards of her deck.

"Next comes Zone Expansion. By paying two thousand life-points a turn, I can use all magic card slots as monster zones, or all monster card slots as magic or trap card zones. I choose the second one." She didn't even noticed her life-points going down to 22400. "Next, for my ultimate combo. I activate Spell Absorption. Either time one of us activates a magic card, I gain five hundred life-points." Anubis glared at her.

"Next I Scapegoat, creating for Goat Tokens (0/0)." Four different colored, tiny goats appeared in front of Tea. "Next I play Token Thanksgiving, which lets me destroy each and every one to gain eight hundred life-points each. I'll chain the quick-play spell Token Festival, which lets me draw a card for every token destroyed."

Anubis rolled his eyes. "Still as combo happy as ever?" She ignored the jibe, and focused on the new situation. She was back to five cards in hand, and had 29600 life-points already. Time to irritate him even more. "I play Power of the Triplets, which activates the effect of three identical cards in my graveyard. Of course, I choose Repayment of Losses."

Her hand size went up to seven as he looked at her new cards.

"Return of Triplets lets me add all cards with the same name, provided there are three, from the graveyard to my hand." Anubis didn't even bother to acknowledge that she had chosen Repayment of Losses. "Then I set all three Repayment of Losses plus another three cards." Six brown-backed cards appeared on the field.

"Next I play Underworld Gem, which lets me remove five cards in my graveyard from play to activate a magic card from either one of our graveyards. I choose Emergency Provisions." The six cards disappeared. "The other three were A Second Chance. When removed from play, I gain two cards in my hand. Obviously, I do so."

Anubis' eyes bulged as she gained ten thousand five hundred life-points and drew nine cards. In one turn. She was getting out of hand.

"I am going to end this Anubis," she said icily.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba stared down the Legendary Demons coolly. "They will fail. Mark my words, they will fail," roared Kagemaru, pointing at the three new dragons.

Bakura observed the situation coldly. The end of one of the two would come, and he would finish the other soon.

"My dragons cannot attack if they're summoned by this effect. Therefore, I play Heavy Storm to destroy Mystic Plasma Zone and end my turn."

(Kagemaru: 1850, Kaiba: 300, Bakura: 1100)

Bakura was pretty shocked that both duelists had summoned their three ace cards. He would have to play it defensively. "I set another monster facedown and end my turn."

Kagemaru drew, his eyes blazing with pure madness. "Raviel, lead the charge and obliterate his first Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Roaring, the large creature extended it's clawed hand and attempted to punch the Blue Eyes. Kaiba smirked.

He raised a hand, and Raviel stopped. "You couldn't do that!" snarled Kagemaru. "True. I didn't. Negate Attack did."

Kagemaru snarled to himself. "Fine. I end my turn by playing two facedown cards."

Seto drew. His eyes flashed. "It's time to destroy those pathetic beasts." Kagemaru snorted. "Your dragons are for too weak. Even your Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon can only destroy Raviel and Hamon: it'd be helpless against Uria's might."

Kaiba ignored him. "Activate Pot of Greed." He snapped two cards off his deck. Examining his new hand, he nodded. "Yes…. Time to finish this. I will destroy each one of those monsters. First I play Riryoku, which halves any one of your monster's attack points and increases one of my monster's attack points by the same amount. So, my Blue Eyes White Dragon (8000/2500) now far surpasses your Uria (5000/10000)!"

Kagemaru's eyes bulged as the Blue Eyes crackled with purple energy while Uria recoiled and groaned in pain. "Knowing you, you've got something to save you. Therefore, it's time to make sure each and every one of your Demon's fall. I play Pump Up, boosting another one of my dragon's to six thousand for the duration of the turn."

The second dragon grew in size and roared at Hamon, who shrunk away in fear. "Finally I equip the third dragon with United We Stand, which means all three of your demons are finished." All three of Kaiba's monsters began to glow, and tendrils of energy began to flow from the other two dragons to the one in the center.

The three dragons (8000/2500) (5400/4900) (6000/2500) now far surpassed Kagemaru's monsters. "End it now, Triple White Lightning!" All three dragons opened their maws and white energy began to glow.

Bakura covered his face with his arm as the winds of the Shadow Realm began to pick up the pace. Finally, the three dragons fired simultaneously, all targeting one Legendary Demons. Kagemaru would lose sixty-for hundred life-points, nearly four times of what he currently had.

But he was grinning. And when a villain grinned like that, it never boded well.

"I first activate my trap card, Call of the Haunted, to revive Kuribabylon (8500/0)!" Kaiba shrugged as the demonic little creature reappeared. "It may be strong but my dragons will end the duel this turn anyway."

"Not if I activate this face down card, Spring of Life! By sacrificing all dark monsters on my field, I can negate your attack and add their attack points to my life-points!" Kaiba's eyes widened as all four monsters roared and disappeared in a flash of light.

The light turned into a kind of barrier, which blocked the attack of the dragons.

Kagemaru was laughing heartily as his life-points soared, leaving both Bakura's and Kaiba's behind in the dust. Kaiba shook his head furiously, refusing to accept how victory had been snatched from his fingers.

He growled in rage. "I end my turn."

(Kagemaru: 22850, Kaiba: 300, Bakura: 1100)

It was back to Bakura. He was the only duelist with cards in his hand. He'd might as well try and keep the advantage. But still, it would be sensible to try and strike now. He grinned at his next card.

"I sacrifice both my facedown monsters for Grei, Commander of the Dark World (2500/2000)!" The two brown backed cards disappeared, only to be replaced by a massive warrior. It looked similar to Reign-Beaux, although it sacrificed height to simply have a big build. It's demonic features leered at Kaiba and Kagemaru, and it carried a long, double-bladed staff. A long, grey tongue crept out of its horrible mouth.

"When he's summoned, I can sacrifice an attack to remove from play all monsters, or magic and traps on one player's field. Your dragons are victim yet again, Kaiba!" Kaiba shrugged coldly. Grei raised his staff, and it began to glow. With a roar, he buried it in the ground, and the entire place seemed to explode.

Bakura was forced to cover his eyes to stop the dust from stinging, and he heard Kagemaru struggling to keep upright. When the smoke cleared, Kaiba's field was empty.

"I end my turn."

Kagemaru drew, giving him one card in his hand. He smirked. "Time to expand my options. Card of Sanctity!" The three duelists gratefully refilled their hands while observing their opponents uneasily.

Kagemaru gave a maniacal laugh. "My Demons may be gone but there power lives on! I summon Phantom of Chaos (0/0)."

Appearing onto the field was a simple black sphere made up of some type of fog. "My monster may not look like much, but I assure you, it is rather powerful. You see, I can choose a monster in my graveyard and Phantom of Chaos gains the attack points and effect of the chosen monster. I choose Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (10000/10000)!"

Bakura gasped as the black fog began to morph. It gained color and grew in size until it was in the imposing form of the divine flame emperor. The red snake like beast with a grey underbelly appeared from the flames that had many scales. The head of the monster had many spikes, and it had a massive set of sharp teeth. It let out a loud roar, making the ground shake from the power of it.

"Attack Kaiba directly now!"

The massive dragon roared and fired a wave of flames at the master duelist, who shook his head and smirked. "I activate the rare and powerful quick-play card, Balanced Battle. If I'm going to take more than 2000 points of damage in an attack, I can negate it. Then I gain life-points equal to half the potential damage and you lose the same amount."

Kagemaru grunted in anger as the monster's attack was stopped. It was reflected and hit his chest causing him to fall to one knee momentarily in pain. Kaiba's mediocre life-points went up to a much better level.

"Fine, I set one card facedown and end my turn."

(Kagemaru: 17800, Kaiba: 5300, Bakura: 1100)

Kaiba drew. "I summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1600) in attack mode." A large robot appeared. It was blue and yellow in color and was balanced on a ball. Cannons sprouted from its shoulders.

"Attack his monster with Cannon Blaster!" yelled Kaiba. The robot fired two rockets from each cannon at the black, swirling fog. Kagemaru smirked.

"You are a fool to attack while I have my facedown card. I activate Sakuretsu Armor, to destroy your robot!" Pieces of metal flew out of nowhere and were beginning to cover the black fog. "I chain Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your trap!"

Kagemaru's eyes widened as the armor was blown away. The cannon's attack continued on and hit black air. It was split apart, and slowly began to dissipate.

The owner of the Legendary Demons glared at Kaiba. "You will pay! You will pay when my truest strength is awakened." The CEO gave him a cold look. "I could care less for your useless threats. I set a card and end my turn."

(Kagemaru: 16000, Kaiba: 5300, Bakura: 1100)

Bakura smirked. "I activate Premature Burial, paying 800 life-points to resurrect Grei!" The demonic warrior appeared and shrieked at its master's opponents. "Attack the X-Head Cannon now!" With a growl, it did so, rushing across the field and slashing the machine in half. Kaiba shrugged.

"With three hundred life-points left, you'll be losing any moment." Bakura cackled. "Not quite. I play Lion's Share, which allows me to add up my life-points with that of any one of you, and mine are reset at three-fourth's, while my opponent has the remainder. My choice is obviously you, Kagemaru."

A tendril of energy appeared between the two of them. It crackled, and Kagemaru grunted and fell to his knees as he felt energy seeping from his body to the Thief King's. "Yes…. Power, wonderful power!" Bakura laughed sadistically at Kagemaru's pain, while Kaiba watched the spectacle coolly.

"I end my turn!"

(Kagemaru: 4075, Kaiba: 4600, Bakura: 12225)

Kagemaru drew, and a dark smile flitted across his face. "I play my own Premature Burial, to resurrect Dark Summons God (0/0)!" Slowly rising up onto the field, the strange looking creature that had large red wings with grey in them and a strange head spread its wings.

"Damn…" growled Bakura. "Next I sacrifice him to bring back three very old friends whom I'm sure you two remember… Welcome back the Legendary Demons. Rise up once more Harmon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000/4000) in defense, Raviel, Lord of Phantasms (4000/4000), and Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (10000/10000)!"

Without warning, the sky darkened once more, causing a large bolt of lightning to strike the ground, while a large purple cloud formed, and finally a huge tower of flames came flowing from the ground. One by one, the large creatures came from their elements, each letting out a soft growl.

Kaiba frowned. "Yes… But I've defeated them before, I can do it again. Four thousand isn't much of a big deal, and even though Uria is at ten thousand, I can defeat it."

"Perhaps…. But you'll never beat what I'm unleashing next. A demon so evil and mighty, that even the mighty members of the divine pantheon would fear it. You will too! I play Death by Dimensional Fusion!! I remove my three Legendary Demons from play to summon their combined form!"

Bakura and Kaiba gasped at the same time.

All three large creatures on Kagemaru's field instantly vanished from the field while lightning began to stir within the sky, striking the field in front of him. Towers of flames instantly began rising around the lightning strikes, while a thick purple fog formed as well.

Slowly, rising from the fog with lightning striking it was a set of yellow nearly see through wings like the Hamon creature had had, a set of blue and yellow horns, large red shoulder pads with spikes sticking out, an arm that had the red dragon like creature on it, the other arm corresponding to the large blue and purple creatures, and the rest of the body appeared to be a blend of the three creatures combined into one, with different colors seeming to be splashed every where.

It let out a roar that would have struck fear in even the bravest of hearts.

"_What kind of monstrosity is that thing_?" gasped Bakura.

"_**MEET ARMITAEL THE CHAOS PHANTOM (0/0)!!!"**_ roared Kagemaru, throwing his arms into the air. His long hair flailed behind him as broke into hysteric laughter.

Kaiba was unimpressed. "Hmm…. If it is as powerful as you say, why is weaker than a damn' Kuriboh (300/200)?"

Kagemaru immediately stopped laughing and glared at him. "Armitael is possibly one of the most powerful creatures to ever exist. If it were a god, it would be on tier two at the least. But it is far more than a god. It is a true demon, a being that has come straight from Hell! Destruction is its single goal, and I will make sure that it is accomplished."

He made a dramatic gesture. "You see, during my turn he gains 10000 attack points." Kaiba looked surprised as the heathen beast roared (10000/0). "So what. Uria was at ten thousand as well."

"This is one of its abilities. More is to come. For now, I'll have Armitael obliterate Grei, Commander of the Dark World with Eternal Destruction!" Letting out a mighty roar that shook the island, the large combination creature began gathering dark orange energy within its jaws. Spreading its wings out fully, the large creature released a stream of dark orange energy straight for the Dark World monster.

It impacted head on, and vaporized it immediately. It continued on and hit Bakura, who screamed in pain as the energy turned his pain nerves into overdrive, filling every crevice of his body with unspeakable agony. Kaiba watched him, a touch of concern finally entering his eyes.

As Bakura finally stopped screaming, he fell to his knees, his body a bunch of pain-wracked nerves and aching bones. He gradually got to his feet. He didn't say anything.

"I activate Dian Keto the Cure Master, and end my turn," said Kagemaru jovially.

(Kagemaru: 5075, Kaiba: 4500, Bakura: 4825)

Suddenly, the large combination creature growled softly. "When my turn ends, Armitael's attack points return to zero."

Kaiba drew. "I am going to destroy your demon right here, right now." Kagemaru shrugged. "Take your best shot."

Kaiba snarled. "You'll regret that! I play Monster Reborn, to revive my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!" The gigantic three headed behemoth appeared behind Kaiba and roared at the demonic creature, which growled back.

"Go ahead and attack me. It's not going to do a thing."

"Oh, I don't plan on using this dragon to defeat you. I play Polymerization, to fuse him with Versago the Destroyer (1100/900) in my hand. He acts as a 'fusion substitute' for one of the fusion material monsters. He'll be Black Luster Soldier (3000/2500)!" A wraith like, purple monster appeared on the field, and it quickly began to morph.

Soon, it began forming. It had dark black armor that seemed to glow due to the torches light. He held a might sword and a shield, one in each hand. Fully appearing, he let out a loud war cry, showing he was unafraid of Armitael.

"I summon the Master of Dragon Soldier (5000/5000)!" The two monsters soon began to glow with a blinding light. Within moments, no one could see the two monsters. Finally, the light dimmed, with only one monster left on the field. The soldier could be seen on the back of the dragon, holding his sword still and a set of chains. The three headed dragon now had reigns, which were made of chain and went to the soldier. The dragon roared loudly, causing it to begin to swell with even more power.

Even Bakura was impressed. "This was the beast that nearly obliterated Zorc. I know it to be a deadly opponent," he thought.

"Attack his Armitael with Dragon Saber Blast!" The powerful soldier's sword began to swell with white twisting energy as the three dragon heads filled with white energy as well. The three heads released a stream of powerful white energy in combination with the knight, who released a burst of energy from his sword. The four streams intertwined together, forming a strong blast.

The column of power flew towards the demonic combo beast and hit it full on the chest. It began to roar in pain, but it was drowned by a massive explosion. The towering fusion continued to send out energy and Armitael continued to shriek in agonizing pain. Finally, the explosions reached their peak, and the Master of Dragon Soldier let out a triumphant victory cry.

Kaiba found himself laughing maniacally. "It's over, senile old fool."

"Not quite," came an arrogant voice from within the smoke. As it cleared, Kaiba and Bakura were shocked to see Armitael still standing on Kagemaru's field. It wasn't even injured.

"What the…. What's going on?" demanded Kaiba. "Simple. Armitael is immune to destruction in battle."

"Damn it!" snarled Kaiba and struck his thigh in a gesture of frustrated anger. "I will destroy you, no matter what!"

"You've tried, but now its over…." Kaiba set a facedown card and ended his turn.

(Kagemaru: 75, Kaiba: 4600, Bakura: 4825)

Bakura drew, giving him a full hand of six cards. His eyes gleamed. "Yes… Yes… Yes! I play Forces of Darkness, which lets me add two Dark World monsters from the graveyard to my hand. I choose Grei and Reign-Beaux!"

Kagemaru snorted. "Fine. But you can't even summon either. If you attack with another monster, I always have a backup plan."

Bakura shook his head. "No, you fool! I play Infernal Fusion, which lets me discard both of them and remove them from play to summon this! Colorless, Chaos King of the Dark World!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where the… Where the hell are we?" grunted Joey, as he pulled himself into a sitting position. Zane was lying right next to him.

"Last thing I knew… We were falling sixty-four stories. How'd we get here?" "Well, we certainly ain't dead… Cuz' this dump is definitely not heaven," grumbled Joey. They were in a large, spacious room, that was devoid of furniture and completely dark except for a glowing, green chandelier in the center of the ceiling.

"Well, this could be hell, cuz' I always told myself it was a real sin to look as good as I did…" Joey attempted to joke to lighten the mood. Zane ignored him, and stood up. He crossed over to the door. It was, however, locked.

"Don't even think about it, Mr. Truesdale," called an icy voice from across the room.

The two wheeled around to see a tall, slim man walking towards them. He had a white garb on, and his aqua green hair came down to his shoulders. A Chaos Duel Disk was strapped to his arm. "Dartz…" growled Joey. "Very perceptive, Joseph."

The duelist didn't bother answering. "It's obvious that the two of you would be killed by me. Therefore, I'm giving you a sporting chance in a duel against me. It'll be fun. If you win, you get to leave and make it to the top that's just one floor above us. A helicopter awaits you there, so you can be free. You'll need it."

"What do you mean?" snarled Zane. "Oh, don't worry. Duel me now, so you can cherish a few extra moments of life. After all, I "

"No way! I'm leaving now!" Joey attempted to rush past Dartz, but he was blown back by an invisible force. "See? It's impossible to leave."

Joey and Zane glanced at each other. Individually, Dartz could crush either one of them, but together, it was possible that they could create a chance. The two stood side by side and activated their Duel Disks.

Dartz smirked, and followed their example. "LET'S DUEL!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Yami was walking slowly to the elevator. His mind was spinning with the events that had just happened. Slowly, he entered it. It was time to end this. He pressed the button for the eighty-ninth floor. As the lift stopped moving, he found himself concentrating on yet another huge power.

"This one is massive," he thought. "It must be on par with Zorc, at least."

Suddenly, the lights began blinking.

"Not again…." groaned Yami.

The elevator began to slow down. Yami snarled. "What's going on?" As it came to a stop, he glanced at the 'help' button. Of all the times it could have been useless….

He stood on the railings, and with a grunt, he flipped open the trap door at the top of the elevator. Reaching out, he groped around for something to get a hold off, and heaved himself up. He got onto the top of the elevator, and saw the door to the next floor. It was only about three feet above him. He could easily force it open with magic.

"Don't even think about it." The voice echoed through the three parallel shafts with stark clarity. Yami paled. That voice belonged to only one person. He turned around to look into the last shaft, which was about twenty feet away.

"No…." The figure was short and stout. He wore a brown shirt with dull green trousers. His spiky hair was covered by a yellow cap. "Grandpa…."

He gasped, and there was a flash of light. He was replaced by the innocent, silent form of Yugi Moto. "Why?" It was the only thing he could say.

"Duel," said the old man, indicating a Chaos Duel Disk on his arm. "No!" cried Yugi. "Very well then." He began to walk over the edge. He gave Yugi a sardonic grin as one foot was about to descend into the abyss of darkness below him.

"No, no, no, no, Grandpa! Please no!" "Then duel," said Solomon, taking a step backward.

"What's going on?" "Anubis is my master. I will obey him. He wishes for me to duel you. I will duel you. If you decline, I will walk off the elevator." The game shop owner sounded like a robot.

Tears rolled down Yugi's cheeks. "First Tea…. Now this." "_We'd better duel him, Yugi_," urged Yami. "_If we do, then at least we have a chance of saving him_."

Yugi shook his head in denial. "_But I can't do it_." "_I'll duel him_."

"_No…You can't either. You don't know how he duels. He can be deadly if he wants to. You're exhausted, as it is, Yami. I will._" "_Promise, you'll let me take over if you can't do it_."

"_I promise_," replied Yugi quietly. "_Don't worry, my hikari. Dartz will pay for going this far._"

Yugi helplessly activated his Duel Disk. "Let's do this!" he shouted. Anger replaced the fear in his eyes.

Solomon smirked. "Go first, child."

(Yugi: 8000, Solomon: 8000)

Yugi glanced over his six cards. . "I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600)!" The metallic warrior with his blade was summoned into play, sparks spitting out of his magnet head. "I set a card facedown and end my turn.

Solomon drew. "I play Graceful Charity, drawing three cards to discard two." He quickly discarded the two chosen cards. "I remove the Summoned Skull (2500/1200) and Blade Knight (1600/1000) from play, to special summon Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)."

Emerging onto the field was a warrior in black ebony shiny armor with a mixture of gold trim, a black helmet, with a bronze colored sword in his right hand and a powerful black and gold shield in his left let out a small battle cry.

"Next I play Dimension Fusion, paying two thousand life-points to revive both monsters."

The fiendish beast as well as the armor plated knight appeared and growled at Yugi. He watched helplessly, knowing that this was how his grandfather's original deck worked, the one Yugi had modeled his own deck after.

"I activate Black Luster Ritual, sacrificing both for my Black Luster Soldier (3000/2500)."

The fiend and warrior disappeared in a flash of flames, and a powerful warrior appeared, hovering next to its more powerful version. It was dressed in green and gray armor and was clutching a massive sword.

"What deck is this?" gasped Yugi. "You didn't honestly think I was going to keep that Ancient deck, did you? Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning, destroy his magnet warrior as well and then attack his life-points with Double Chaos Edge!"

The hefty warrior sprang across the field and immediately slashed the Beta in half. It spun around and batted away the pieces. Before it could make it to Yugi, he spoke softly. "I activate Dark Wall of Air, to block all direct attacks till the end of the turn."

Dark winds sprang up from all around the elevator shaft and blocked the soldier from coming forth. He grunted and returned to his place near his original counterpart.

"I end my turn."

(Yugi: 7300, Solomon: 6000)

Yugi drew shakily. "I play Premature Burial, to revive Beta." The yellow creature appeared again and beeped in fright at the sight of the two deadly warriors.

"I sacrifice him, along with Gamma (1500/1800), and Alpha (1400/1700) to special summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!"

Two magnet shaped creatures appeared onto the field, each letting off of soft moan. There was a grey one with a shield and sword, and a pink one with wings. Together, the three leapt into the air. Slowly, each began to break apart into many pieces. The pieces slowly reformed into one body. A large creature with many components from the previous three was build in the place of the three. It had a massive sword, a large body frame, pink wings, and many other pieces from the three previous creatures. Swinging it's sword in a sweeping motion, the new creature let out a low moan, showing its strength.

Yugi stopped. He found himself struggling to speak. "_Let me do this_," said Yami urgently.

Yugi shook his head in denial. "No, no! I can do it! Attack his Envoy of the Beginning with Magna Blade!" The strange warrior shrieked and leapt towards its opponent. It swung its sword in a single, wide arc, but it was blocked by the chaotic soldier's blade. The two struggle, but the machine eventually overcame his opponent and quickly decapitated him.

Solomon grunted in annoyance, but said nothing.

"I end my turn," whispered Yugi.

(Yugi: 7300, Solomon: 5500)

"This deck is one of the most powerful to ever be created," drawled Solomon as he lifted his next card.

"It has many powerful cards, and has virtually no weaknesses as you're about to see. I play Pot of Greed." He examined his two new cards.

He then continued, "I activate Magnet Warrior Meltdown, which lets me choose a monster on my field to summon Magnet Warriors from his deck equal to his level divided by two. Black Luster Soldier is level eight, so I can summon two. Meet Delta the Magnet Warrior (1900/1200) and Sigma the Magnet Warrior (1200/1900)."

A blue, magnet shaped warrior appeared on the field. It held an axe, and had the letter 'd' emblazoned on its front. Another one appeared. It was orange, and had a magnet as a head. "Next I summon Zeta the Magnet Warrior (1300/1600)."

A green warrior that had a magnet as one hand, and held a curvy sword appeared. It had the letter 'z' on its chest.

Yugi was shocked. "Different magnet warriors?" "Of course. For now, I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yugi draw. With only two cards in his hand, there wasn't much he could do. "I summon Magician's Valkyrie (1600/1800)."

A young female mage with long chestnut colored hair that reached her mid-back that wore a mostly light blue with some light purple like dress and an odd looking light blue mage's hat appeared onto the field. She held a scepter in her right hand that looked like a ram's horn on the end of a stick that had three green jewels on each side. The scepter itself was a light grey.

"Valkyrion, obliterate his Delta!" Solomon smirked. "I activate Negate Attack." The more powerful magnet warrior froze, and retreated.

Yugi sighed. "Since this is my only card, I would be foolish not to play it. I activate Card of Sanctity, refilling my hand."

He drew six cards, and Solomon drew four. "I end my turn."

Solomon went through his new hand as he drew. "I activate Might of the Magnet, which grants every magnet warrior three hundred attack points for every other magnet warrior on the field. All of my monsters gain six hundred attack points." The three glowed with purple energy and let out soft moans (2500/1200) (1800/1900) (1900/1600).

"Next I play the field magic card, the Seal of Orichalcos!" Yugi cried in horror, "No, Grandpa, don't play that card." Ignoring him, the game shop owner slid it into the field magic card zone.

"Silly boy," he smiled. Yugi shivered. The smile reminded him of the genuine ones Solomon used to give him. "The Seal is power. And power is everything you need in life."

"The grandpa I knew never believed that!" Solomon's face hardened, and he spat, "Then the grandpa you knew is dead."

All three magnet warriors had the symbol of the Seal on their foreheads. It raised there power considerably (3000/1200) (2300/1900) (2400/1600).

"Valkyrion is yet too stronger for them!" mustered Yugi. "Not if I sacrifice Sigma for Eplison the Magnet Monarch (2400 + 600 + 500 3500/1000)!" Sigma disappeared, only to be replaced by a hulking, metallic beast. Its arms were about as big as tree-branches, and the entire thing looked like it could take an SUV crashing into it head-on. Its head was striped red and white, and it had an E on its chest. It groaned as it looked at Yugi.

"When Eplison is summoned, it lets me special summon another magnet warrior from my graveyard. I choose Sigma once again." The beast that had just been sacrificed reappeared.

Yugi gasped, knowing that Solomon would suicide Eplison with Valkyrion, which would leave him with only his Valkyrie as defense against nearly eight thousand attack points worth of monsters.

"Now Eplison, show this fool who the real Magnet Warrior is and attack Valkyrion!" The Magnet Monarch lumbered forward, and with a groan, hefted up its arms and crushed Valkyrion. At the last second, the Magna Warrior stabbed forward, and its sword sprouted out from Eplison's back. There was a buzz of circuitry as the two monsters disappeared.

"Delta, attack Magician's Valkyrie." The magnet warrior raised its axe and was about to cut down to spellcaster when Yugi called out, "I activate my quick-play magic card, Magical Dimension. I sacrifice my Valkyrie in order to destroy your Delta and special summon the Dark Magician (2500/2100) from my hand."

Solomon watched with mild interest as the Magician's Valkyrie was eclipsed in shining white light. When the light cleared, Valkyrie was replaced by the imposing figure of the purple-robed Dark Magician. He held up his green staff and fired a bolt of energy, shattering Delta.

"None of your monsters have 2500 attack points, so you're forced to end your turn." "I will set a card and do so," nodded Solomon.

(Yugi: 5900, Solomon: 5500)

Yugi felt stronger as he drew his next card. "I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)!"

Upon Yugi slapping the card to his Duel Disk, a maroon robed warrior appeared onto the field. He wore a thick set of maroon robes and cape, a strange mage's hat that nearly covered his entire face, and had a sword in his right hand and a shield in his left.

"He gains a counter, which gives him 300 more attack points." A glowing ring appeared on his sword. "I immediately remove it to destroy your facedown card." Solomon's facedown card exploded.

"Next I equip Dark Magician with Diffusion Wave Motion. I pay a thousand life-points to let me Dark Magician attack all your monsters! Streaming Magic Attack!" The deadly magician raised his staff, as it glowed with energy. He fired it out at the two monsters, and both were shattered instantly.

"Since Diffusion Wave Motion prevents Breaker from attacking, I'm going to end my turn with a facedown."

(Yugi: 4900, Solomon: 5200)

Solomon drew, and smiled eerily at Yugi. "Time to face the most powerful magnet warrior to ever exist! You see, he was an alchemist who dabbled with magnets. Eventually, his experiments got out of hand and he found himself merging with the substance. In the end, it created a plague, which resulted in the race of the magnet warriors. But this is the original magnet warrior, and the most powerful. I have to remove Delta the Magnet Warrior, Zeta the Magnet Warrior, and Sigma the Magnet Warrior from play to summon Omega the Magnet Warrior (3800 + 500 4300/4000)!"

The green, blue, and orange warriors appeared. They all moaned, and slowly began to break up. The jumbled parts began to join again, and there was a flash of light. The new creature wore gray armor, and had a blue cape that fell to its ankles. On its shoulders were two pairs of pink wings. Its arms tightly clasped the massive sword. It raised its rounded helmet, to reveal a distorted face.

"Omega craves power. Now, I can pay a thousand life-points and remove five cards in my deck from play to have him special summon _all _Magnet Warriors in both our graveyards. So I'll be getting both yours, and mine. I can hold a maximum of ten, and I don't want you to forget Might of the Magnet. Please welcome Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400 + 500 + 2400 4300/1700), Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700 + 500 + 2400 4600/1700), Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500 + 500 2400 4400/1800), Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500 + 500 + 2400 6400/3850), Eplison the Magnet Monarch (2400 + 500 + 2400 5300/1000), Delta the Magnet Warrior (1900 + 500 + 2400 4800/1200), Sigma the Magnet Warrior (1200 + 500 + 2400 4100/1900) and last, but not least, Zeta the Magnet Warrior (1300 + 500 + 2400 4200/1600)!!!!"

Solomon's field was filled with the magnet warriors of varying size and color. All of them buzzed upon eyeing the Dark Magician and Breaker. "Omega (3800 + 500 + 2400 6700/4000), show your true might and destroy his Dark Magician with Ultimate Magnet Edge!"

The Seal glowed on the warrior's forehead as it beeped and began to rush forward. "Sorry, I activate Wabuko!" The group of blue, robed men appeared and warded off the attack by chanting. Solomon shrugged. "As I taught you, Yugi, patience is the key. Please, go on and take your turn now."

(Yugi: 4900, Solomon: 4200)

Yugi had no idea what to do. Solomon had eight monsters, each with over four thousand attack points. No combo in his deck could destroy all of them in one turn. Even if one remained, it could almost completely wipe out his life-points if it got in a direct attack.

On top of it, it was taking all his willpower to even attack Solomon. He closed his eyes as he drew. "_C'mon, Heart of the Cards. Now would be a good time to work_." His eyes snapped open as he looked at the card. He grinned, for the first time in days.

"All right. Your guys may be powerful, and I'm confident your deck has more waiting in the wings. But I'm at least going to defeat these guys." Solomon sneered. "Each of my monsters has over four thousand attack points. How do you intend to beat them?"

Yugi's eyes narrowed, matching his grandfather's. "I intend to release the wrath of heaven upon them."

Solomon was silent for a moment before chuckling. "Foolish boy. Do you actually think you can summon a God? You will be unable to control it." Yugi ignored him.

"I play the Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards. I'll follow it up Polymerization, fusing Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200) and Berfomet (1400/1800) to summon Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast (2100/1800)!"

A large creature with mostly orange fur, with some brown, four arms, a pair of white wings on his back, a set of golden horns, and sharp clawed hands of feet first appeared, followed next by a brown lion like creature with a black mane, a horn on his forehead, glowing yellow eyes, and sharp clawed hands and feet.

The two soon began swirling together, and from the swirling came a two headed lion like creature with large white wings on four legs. It had mostly golden fur with a brown mane and a few other patches of brown fur elsewhere. One head of the creature had a single horn on its forehead while the other head had a pair of horns. Its tail on the end appeared to have a mouth of it's own with a few sharp teeth. Each head let out a mighty roar, showing its dominance.

"Then I play De-Fusion, splitting it back down into Gazelle and Berfomet." The hybrid disappeared, only to be replaced by its components.

"Next I play Change of Heart on Omega the Magnet Warrior (3800/4000)." As this happened, all of Solomon's monsters lost three hundred attack points.

He seemed unperturbed. "All it can do is suicide with my weakest creatures. Otherwise, it is useless to you."

"Don't be so sure," warned Yugi. He turned to his Dark Magician. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do." It nodded slightly.

"I hereby sacrifice Omega the Magnet Warrior, Breaker the Magical Warrior, and my Dark Magician, for Obelisk the Tormentor (4000/4000)!"

The elevator shaft darkened even more than before. A blinding blue light began filling the room suddenly, and slowly up from the ground rose a powerful, large blue monster. It had powerful large arms, gigantic wings, and powerful legs. Its legs touched the ground at the bottom of the shaft. It roared at Solomon.

The old man took a step back in fear, before composing himself. "Bah! It's nothing to the stronger monsters of my army."

Yugi was unable to answer. He had fallen to his knees, clasping his head in agony. "No, no, no! Get out of my head now!" He was unable to control the god. "_Let me deal with this Yugi, just momentarily_," urged Yami. Yugi didn't object. There was a flash of light, and Yugi was replaced by the proud, tall figure of the Pharaoh.

He raised a hand. "Stop this at once, Obelisk!" he commanded. The god stopped at once, and growled at Solomon. "_Let me do this while Obelisk is on the field_," pressed Yami. "_Fine. But only till then_," agreed Yugi.

"I sacrifice Berfomet and Gazelle to Obelisk, to destroy all your monsters and deal you 4000 points of damage!"

The blue creature reached out and took hold of both the weaker animals. Holding one in each hand, his hands began to glow white as the creatures were dissolved. Within seconds, both monsters were gone, leaving a powerful blue creature with brightly glowing red eyes. In moments, the creature's body began to glow with red light as his skin changed from blue to a sickly, blood red

Bringing both fists up directly in front of his body, the red creatures fists began to glow bright red. Energy formed at the fists, each swirling. With deadly precision, the red creature released his twin blasts, which swirled into one large blast. The blast immediately slammed into the army of magnet warriors who didn't even have time to scream. They were disintegrated within a second. The blast only continued on, in Solomon's direction.

He was hit full on, and thrown against the opposite wall of the lift shaft. He was screaming in pain as the blast pressed against him. In the recesses of their shared mind, Yugi was screaming out to his grandfather, not caring that the man had been brainwashed by his enemy.

Even Yami couldn't take it. "OBELISK! STOP!" Almost reluctantly, the god obeyed.

Solomon staggered up. He had been reduced to a minimal level of life-points, and was horribly hurt by the attack. Still, he smirked. "Fools, both of you."

Yami snarled. "I end my turn! Do not tangle with us and expect to make it through unharmed."

(Yugi: 4900, Solomon: 200)

Solomon drew, and panted. "I play Nightmare's Steelcage. Now, none of us can attack until two turns are over." Suddenly, Yugi found that all three shafts were encased by a large, steel cage. It was covered with spikes, and Obelisk grunted and had to stoop so that he could fit in it.

"Next I summon Queen's Knight (1500 + 500 2000/1600)." Then a beautiful woman in female knights' clothing, which had symbols that resembled those from regular playing cards, carrying a sword and a pink shield also adorned with playing card symbols materialized in front of Solomon.

"I end my turn."

Yami drew viciously, and growled in anger. There was nothing he could do to destroy the Nightmare's Steelcage. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Solomon smirked at his grandson's darker half. "Yes, I expected this." "What are you talking about?" snarled Yami.

"My foolish grandson cannot duel himself. He always needs you to help him." Yami narrowed his eyes. "SHUT UP! Yugi was able to defeat me. He is stronger than you can imagine!"

"As you say," replied Solomon uncaringly as he drew.

"I summon King's Knight (1600 + 500 2100/1400)!" The bearded knight dressed in gold armor and a blue cape, with his round orange shield with a star and his blade, materialized next to Queen's Knight.

"Since Queen's Knight was on the field when King's Knight was summoned, I can special summon Jack's Knight (1900 + 500 2400/1000)!" He found the card he had declared, and placed it on his disk. Then the knight dressed in sapphire clothing with a very long sword and a diamond shield with the gold cross on it appeared.

Yami smirked. "I have each one of those cards in my deck, and they're nothing to you. Not one can challenge my Obelisk."

"Perhaps not alone. But I play Polymerization, fusing the Tri-Knights to summon my Arcana Joker Knight (3800 + 500 4300/2500)!!!!" The three knights were sucked into a vortex, which began spinning. Right where the three Knights were before, a new, and huge, knight had appeared. He was dressed in white and purple clothing adorned with card symbols, and carried an extremely long sword. He also wore a royal hat that was adorned with card symbols as well.

"I activate Lightning Blade, boosting his strength by eight hundred points." Yami frowned as the Arcana Joker Knight's (5100/2500) sword crackled with electricity. Ironically, Yami had once defeated Yakou Temma with this combo.

"You can't get through Nightmare's Steelcage!" shot back Yami.

"I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, proving you wrong." Yami didn't seem unduly worried as a gust of wind blew away the cage and shattered it.

"Arcana Joker Knight, attack with Ultimate Triple Blade!" The knight only grinned, and ran at the huge god. Then he leapt into his air swung his blade really hard.

Just as he was about to cut Obelisk in half, Yugi countered. "I activate Reverse Trap, reversing all increases and decreases in attack and defense power for this turn. Which means your knight can't defeat Obelisk, ending the duel!" Solomon's eyes widened as the Arcana Joker Knight (2500/2500) was suddenly punched by Obelisk, throwing him back across the field.

Obelisk raised its foot, and was about to execute what would have been called 'Foot of Fury', when Solomon snarled, "I activate Mystic Wok, sacrificing the Joker Knight to add its attack points to my life-points and prevent me from losing the duel." Just as it was about to be crushed, the old man's monster disappeared. Obelisk's foot fell uselessly on Solomon's elevator.

The game shop owner gave a contented sigh as his life-points went up.

"I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

(Yugi: 4900, Solomon: 2700)

Yami drew. "Obelisk, destroy his monster." The great, blue god roared and obeyed. It raised its fist and punched the facedown card with all its might. It was revealed to be a soldier in black armor, with only a dagger.

"You destroyed Envoy of the Black Luster Soldier (1500/1900). It lets me add a card with the word 'Black Luster Soldier from my deck or graveyard to my hand. I choose Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning, from my graveyard." He did so.

"I end my turn," growled Yami.

Solomon drew. "Obelisk's destruction shall come to be a reality now! I play Lullaby of Obedience, alloying me to take a level eight or higher monster from _your_ deck and add it to my hand. I choose your Black Luster Soldier (3000/2500)!"

Yami frowned as he produced the ritual monster card. What good did Solomon have for it? "Here you go." He muttered a word of ancient Shadow magic and it floated across the shafts into Solomon's outstretched hand. "Finally I play Fusion Recovery, letting me take a fusion material monster as well as Polymerization from my graveyard add it to my hand."

He grinned at Yami and showed him Polymerization and his _own_ Black Luster Soldier.

"What could you possibly…" began Yami, when it hit him. He gasped. "Not possible!"

"Oh, but it is possible Pharaoh. I play Polymerization, fusing my two Black Luster Soldiers as well as Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning to summon Black Luster Lord-Master of Chaos (4500/4000)!"

Silhouettes of the named monsters appeared. They all raised their swords and gave battle-cries before they began to disappear in flashes of lights. A vortex appeared, and the balls of light entered it. It began to spin, even as Obelisk roared in surprise.

A tall figure stepped out of it. As the light cleared, his features were revealed. He was dressed in the regular black armor of the Black Luster Soldier, but his armor was glowing with sheer power. His shoulder pads and knee were blood-red, and he was wearing a flowing, black cape. His sword was cruelly hooked and stained with blood, and he held a large shield. His eyes shone with bloodlust, and his features were more demonic. Overall, it looked more cruel and brutal than any of its fusion components.

"The ultimate Black Luster Solider," whispered Solomon, his eyes gleaming. Yami stared at it in shock.

"He can only be summoned by fusing three monsters with 'Black Luster Soldier' in their name. His power rivals the gods. There are a number of drawbacks, though. For one, I have to skip my draw phase while he is on the field." Yami frowned. "No monster is worth such a cost."

"You'll find yourself sorely mistaken, Pharaoh. This is the only copy of the card ever made, and it therefore has tremendous power. First, it gains five hundred attack points for every dark and light monster in both graveyards. I count eleven."

Yami gasped. At its current level of strength, the Black Luster Lord (4000 + 500 4500/4000) could easily finish him permanently.

"Then comes its second effect. When he's summoned, I can remove a monster with the words 'Black Luster Soldier' in its name to remove from play all your monsters, your magic and trap cards, or your hand. Obelisk would be immune, so I choose your hand." Yami grimaced as he slipped his Magic Cylinder into the removed from play pile.

"Now face my monster's wrath. Win me this duel with Ultimate Creation Sword!" The warrior shrieked and raised its sword. Lightning struck it and it began to buzz with energy as the sword glowed. With a battle-cry, the mighty warrior fired the massive beam of energy at Obelisk. Finally, it twisted its sword around, and two identical columns of twisting fire erupted on either side of Obelisk. Simultaneously, the three attacks headed towards the god, waiting to bring it and its master to their fiery doom.

Yami was frozen. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and he was replaced by the determined and scared Yugi Moto. "He didn't know about this card, but I did! I activate Spiritual Defense from my deck, which can be activated when my opponent's monster is more than twice as strong as mine, and if the attack is successful I'll lose! All life-point damage is reduced to zero!"

Solomon roared in fury as the attack hit Obelisk and it was shattered instantly as it roared in pain. However, pearly white spirits appeared in front of Yugi and protected him from the attack. He smiled at his grandfather from beyond the virtual shield.

Obelisk's destruction was catastrophic. Both elevators began to shake, and Yugi would have sworn he felt his falling a few feet. There was a lot of smoke that had finally begun to clear.

"You saved yourself for one turn!" spat Solomon. "One miserable turn! You have no cards in your hand, and none on your field. Black Luster Lord-Master of Chaos has ten thousand attack points and is unaffected by all magic, trap and monster effects. Not even a miracle can save you now!"

Yugi ignored him. Despite the circumstances, he was grinning. "So, you want to die?" snarled Solomon with sick mirth.

"My grandfather once told me that despite how hard a situation was, it was always possible to overcome the opposition in Duel Monsters. Now, it may seem hard in this duel, for this is really the hardest situation anyone has ever faced. But I promise you, I will prove I am the King of Games and overcome it."

Solomon spread out his arms. "I end my turn! Show me your pathetic Heart of the Cards!"

(Yugi: 4900, Solomon: 1700)

Yugi placed his hand on his deck. Only one card could save him now. He closed his eyes. "_This is for everyone I love. Grandpa, I know you're strong enough to break free when the time is right." _

He opened his eyes slightly. "_Yami, for so many years we've been like brothers. I couldn't choose a better person to go down with_." The spirit smiled. "_I couldn't put it better myself._"

"_Joey, Tristan. If you guys ever stop fighting, just try and remember me as Yugi Moto, the friend you had, and not as the King of Games." _ He opened his eyes fully.

"_Tea… I loved you since we were children. I've been too thickheaded to not realize that we could have had so many years. I'm sorry. If I don't make it, find someone for yourself. You deserve it." _His grin broadened, and he began to edge the card off his deck.

"_Kaiba. For seven years we've been rivals, and its been the most exhilarating rivalry of my life. Dueling you is like fighting for my life. For those you love dueling, none can love it more than you, not even me. I hope you'll put your title of King of Games to good use if I don't make it. You would deserve it._"

He snapped it off, and looked at it. "All right! I play Underworld Gem, removing from play my Magician's Valkyrie, Premature, Magic Cylinder, Wabuko and Reverse Trap from my graveyard to activate the Card of Sanctity once again."

Solomon gasped as Yugi filled his hand with six cards once again. He got cards as well, but he couldn't use his monster's effect until his own turn.

"No matter!" he retorted. "My monster still has nine and a half thousand attack points! It is immune to everything. What's more, I activate its third effect, which can be activated at any time. By discarding half my hand, and letting you draw the same number of cards, I can double my monster's attack points next turn and give it a direct attack during my next battle-phase. Which means you'll have to destroy it this turn, which is impossible!"

The Black Luster Lord shrieked in agreement.

"I can't destroy it with magic, trap, or monster effects. So I'll destroy it in the one way it can be destroyed. Battle." Solomon laughed. "Go on. Try."

Yugi narrowed his eyes. "You're asking for it. First I play Monster Reborn, to revive my Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!" The gray beast with pink wings appeared. It moaned at the sight of Solomon's monster. "Then I sacrifice it to revive Alpha (1400/1700), Beta (1700/1600) and Gamma (1500/1800) in my graveyard!"

Three magnet shaped creatures appeared onto the field, each letting off of soft moan. There was a grey one with a shield and sword, a yellow one with magnet hands, and finally a pink one with wings.

"I sacrifice all three for my ultimate beast! Slifer the Sky Dragon (X000/X000)!"

All three monsters vanished in a quick flash. The lights at the top of the shaft seemed to suddenly dim somewhat as clouds appeared above the field. Slowly, lowering from the clouds was a long red serpent like body with many spikes and a black underbelly. A set of sharp clawed feet appeared on the body, and finally the head of the creature dipped down from the clouds. On its back were massive red wings, which gave a small beat. The head of the creature was extremely powerful. It had two sets of jaws, glowing yellow eyes, and a blue gem in the middle of its forehead.

"The god card…" muttered Solomon, as the divine beast roared at his fusion monster. He noticed a strained look on Yugi's face. It wasn't as bad as Obelisk, but although he could still do it, it was incredibly difficult for him to control Slifer. He seemed to be ignoring Yami's pleas to be allowed to duel now.

"Indeed. As you know, he gains a thousand attack points for every card in my hand. I have four."

"Bah! Four thousand is less than half of what is needed to take down the Black Luster Lord!"

Yugi still ignored him. "I activate Card of Safe Return. Now every time a monster is revived from the grave, I can draw one card." "It makes your dragon even weaker," sneered Solomon.

"No matter. Now I play Necromancy, which allows me to revive four monsters from your graveyard on your side of the field. I choose Zeta, Delta, Sigma, and Envoy of the Black Luster Soldier!" The three magnet warriors and the soldier appeared next to the towering warrior, who only grunted at the weaker creatures.

"Now, Slifer's second mouth activates, and he reduces all their attack points by 2000. Since each one is weaker than two thousand, all of them are destroyed! Summon Lightning Impact!" Solomon's eyes widened as the massive creature's upper jaw opened. With a roar, it fired out four balls of energy at all four monsters in quick succession, vaporizing them.

"Since four were revived, I draw four cards! Your monster is immune to its second effect, which would have reduced its attack points to 7600, but it doesn't matter." Slifer (6000/6000) was now much stronger.

"Next comes Graceful Charity, which lets me draw three cards to discard two."

"You didn't change the number of cards in your hand," pointed out Solomon. "I didn't? Last time I checked, I discarded two Repayment of Losses, letting me draw two more cards." Solomon was not amused as Slifer's attack points climbed to eight thousand.

"I press on. I play Disgraceful Charity! It lets me add all cards discarded due to a magic card back to my hand. I bring back both Repayment of Losses, setting Slifer at nine thousand!" The colossal god roared at the Black Luster Lord, showing it just 500 points behind it.

"Finally, I play Magician's Brooding. I must pay half my life-points to have it substitute any spell in my graveyard. I choose the one and only Pot of Greed." Solomon gasped, shaking his head in denial as Slifer rose to a massive eleven thousand attack points.

"Slifer! Destroy this abomination with Thunder Force!" Roaring in response to its master, the mighty red dragon opened its bottom set of jaws and released a mighty stream of golden energy. It crashed into the Black Luster Lord's chest. He let out a blood-curdling shriek of pain before shattering.

(Yugi: 2450, Solomon: 200)

Solomon was panting. "You may have destroyed my Black Luster Lord, but my deck has an uncounted number of powerful monsters. This is the ultimate deck! Marik Ishtar himself designed it from all the cards that Paradias possessed, knowing it would destroy you! I am the master of Duel Monsters, and it will crush you!"

"We'll see about that!" countered Yugi. "I'll set five cards facedown, and end my turn. Now I don't have to discard any cards from my hand." Slifer (6000/6000) growled, signaling that though it was weaker it was a formidable opponent.

Solomon drew, smirking. "The destruction of my Black Luster Lord did not affect me. I will show you why. I discard Thunder Dragon (1600/1500), to add two more Thunder Dragons (1600/1500) from my hand to my deck!"

"What's the point?" said Yugi, narrowing his eyes.

"You'll see. I activate another Fusion Recovery, adding Thunder Dragon and Polymerization to my hand yet again!" Yugi watched with mild interest as Solomon's hand size grew to eight.

"What's the point of all this, may I ask?" "I play Polymerization, to fuse my three Thunder Dragons to summon Triple-Headed Thunder Dragon (3800 + 500 4300/3200)!" Three green-skinned serpentine dragons with long, thin bodies coursing with electricity, along with long yet seemingly unused wings appeared. They grunted and were pulled into a swirling vortex.

The new beast that emerged from the vortex was a huge dragon. Its entire body was identical to the regular Thunder Dragon, although it had three heads instead of one. It roared at Slifer.

"For one, it's too weak anyway. Two, Slifer's ability activates. Summon Lightning Impact!" The massive god opened its mouth and fired a ball of energy at the three-headed dragon. It roared with pain and was eclipsed by a flash of light for a second. When the light cleared, its wings were in tatters, and it was covered with cuts and bruises. It looked weak and battered (2300/3200).

"Its enough! I play Shield and Sword, swapping my monster's attack points with its defense points!" The electric dragon grunted and its muscles bulked up as its attack points rose to thirty-two hundred. "Next comes Pump Up, which doubles its attack points to sixty-four hundred for the duration of the turn, more than enough to destroy your god!"

Yugi was unperturbed at the sight of the dragon crackling with power and growing in size. "Attack!"

The huge three-headed creature roared with bloodlust again, and then electricity shot from its three mouths towards the weaker god. "Sorry, I activate Promised Protection, which allows me to negate an attack as long as I have a spellcaster in the graveyard."

Solomon gasped as the ghostly image of the Dark Magician appeared in front of Slifer. With a strong flick of its staff, batted away the attack of the Triple Headed Thunder Dragon. He growled. "Can't you understand that I want you to lose?!"

"Oh, I understand it. I just don't care," retorted Yugi.

"I end my turn." The Triple Headed Thunder Dragon's (3800 + 500 4300/3200) stats returned to normal.

Yugi drew. "Slifer (7000/7000), end the duel with Thunder Force!" Once again, the mighty dragon let lose a blast of golden energy in Solomon's direction. It crashed into the three headed dragon, which let lose a cry of pain before shattering.

However, Solomon's life-points didn't fall to zero and instead went up to 4000! "What's going on?" yelled Yugi.

"You see, the Triple-Headed Thunder Dragon is more than just a beatstick. I can use its effect to reduce all damage to zero when its destroyed and boost my life-points by its base attack points at the cost of sacrificing my next battle-phase."

Yugi grimaced. "Fine. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Solomon chuckled at his next draw. "I set one monster facedown in defense mode and end my turn." Immediately, Slifer let lose a ball of energy at it. It flipped up to reveal the man with long, unkempt black hair, carrying a huge shield. He was hit by the blast, and the damage was revealed to be dozens of cuts, and a broken shield.

"Big Shield Gardna (100 + 500 600/600) is strong enough to survive!" smirked Solomon. "I end my turn."

Yugi drew, boosting Slifer to seven thousand again. "I summon the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200)!"

An instant later, an elf with pointed long ears, wearing a green hat and armor, a blue cape, face paint, brown vest, and carrying a long, silver sword materialized on Yugi's side of the field. "Destroy his Big Shield Gardna!" The elf nodded and rushed forward. With a single swipe of its sword, it cleaved the Big Shield Gardna in half.

Solomon grunted. "Slifer, finish it once and for all with Thunder Force!" "Sorry, I discard Kuriboh from my hand to reduce all damage done to zero!" Yugi grimaced once more as a veritable army of brown furballs appeared in front of the old man. They were destroyed by the attack, but protected their master.

"Urgh… I end my turn."

Solomon drew. "First I play Monster Reborn, to revive my Triple Headed Thunder Dragon in defense mode. Luckily, it can survive Slifer's assault." The large, combination dragon appeared again, this time with its wings crossed over its chest and its heads tucked in low; bracing itself for the oncoming attack. It was left in the same condition as when it was first hit by Slifer's onslaught.

I activate Double Spell, discarding Dian Keto the Cure Master to use your Card of Sanctity. Since you have six cards anyway, it doesn't benefit you." Yugi shrugged as his grandfather filled his hand with new cards.

"Next comes De-Fusion. I split my dragon back into the three Thunder Dragons (1600 + 500 2100/1500)." The massive three-headed beast disappeared. Then three cards slipped out of the discard slot of his Chaos Disk, and he quickly grabbed them and placed them down one-by-one on Monster Card zones. In three bursts of thunder and electricity, the three green serpentine dragons with electrically-charged bodies and long wings rematerialized in front of him and gave off loud roars.

"Summon Lightning Impact!" Solomon smirked and shrugged as all three dragons were hit by consecutive balls of energy. It left them bleeding, weak and useless (100/1500).

"It doesn't make such a big difference. I now sacrifice all three for one of the strongest warriors to ever exist, a card that strikes fear in the hearts of those who hear his name! I summon Gilford the Lighting (2800 + 500 3300/1400)!"

A huge hulking man materialized amidst all the lightning: He was a muscular man dressed in bright-orange clothing with a very long sword that surged with lightning to the very tip. He also wore an iron mask with eyeholes, and gauntlets on his wrists.

"When he's summoned with three sacrifices, his effect activates. Raigeki Blade!" Yugi raised his eyebrows as Gilford then raised his blade and swung it in a horizontal arc, letting loose a wave of lightning which struck all of the King of Games' monsters. The Obnoxious Celtic Guardian was instantly shattered, but Slifer grunted and the lightning dissipated. It then fired another ball of energy at Gilford. His cape was ripped to shreds, and a couple of bones were definitely bruised. His sword was shattered (1300/1400).

"That was a fruitless move. All you succeeded in doing was destroying my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian." "That was my intention… Little Yugi," sneered Solomon.

"You see, I just needed Gilford to obliterate your elf so that Slifer was left alone. Now my strategy to take it down shall commence. You have seen powerful combinations during this duel, but this one really takes the cake! I remove King's Knight and Envoy of the Black Luster Soldier from play to special summon my mighty Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End (3000 + 500 3500/2500)!"

Yugi gasped as the ghostly silhouettes of the two named monsters ascended into the darkness of the shaft above them. Roaring onto the field was a massive black dragon with an orange mane, massive wings, powerful clawed hands and feet, and sharp teeth. Glaring at Yugi, the dragon let out another mighty roar, trying hard to shake the duelist's iron will.

"But there are only ten copies of that card ever made! Where did you get it?" snarled Yugi. "Marik had one before Dartz defeated him. It's mine now."

Slifer suddenly roared and fired off a ball of energy from its upper jaw. The powerful black dragon was then struck and screeched in pain as the blast hit it. When it hit, a cloud of smoke rose from where the blast had made contact. When the smoke cleared, there stood the once powerful dragon with tattered wings and some minor cuts. It still had it's pride in tact, but was definitely weaker (1500/2500).

"No matter," dismissed Solomon. "You see, I'm removing both Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End, as well as Gilford the Lightning from play to summon their fused form."

"Another fusion?" groaned Yugi, rubbing his temples. The warrior and the dragon both growled, and disappeared in wisps of light. The wisps were absorbed by a vortex, which began to spin. The intensity of the combination impressed even Slifer, who let out a low grunt of appreciation.

A hulking beast was coming out of the vortex. The Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End was back to normal, but was strangely covered with cruel, black armor. Its wings were free, but for the most part a lot of it was plated. Its eyes shone with brutal bloodlust from under the plates of metal. Sitting on its back and grasping a chain in one hand was Gilford the Lightning. It had a longer sword, and its body was much bigger and bulkier. It glared at Yugi.

"This is Chaos Gilford-Lord of Lightning (3600 + 500 4100/2800), and he can only be summoned by removing the two fusion components from play while they're on the field." Yugi was impressed. "Not bad. But as you know, Slifer now targets it! Summon Lightning Impact!" Slifer fired a blast of pure white power at its new opponent.

Suddenly, the dragon roared, and the energy ball shattered midway. Yugi was shocked. "That's not possible." "It is. Chaos Gilford is unaffected by any and all monster effects under any circumstances." Yugi shrugged. "Its two thousand points below Slifer. So it doesn't matter."

"Oh it does! I activate his special ability. You see, when he's summoned, I can destroy all monsters or magic and trap cards on your field, and you lose five hundred points per destroyed card! Since Slifer is unaffected, I'll target your four magic and trap cards!"

Yugi chuckled. "I'm sorry, that effect is wasted. I chain Emergency Provisions, sacrificing my three facedown cards to boost my life-points by three thousand and leaving you with nothing to destroy." Solomon growled in anger as the two Repayment of Losses and Heavy Storm disappeared. Yugi drew two cards and his life-points shot up to 5450. Meanwhile, Slifer (8000/8000) was more than twice as strong as Chaos Gilford.

"Do you think I went through all this for nothing? I activate Chaos Gilford's second special ability. I can remove four warrior or dragon type monsters in my graveyard and summon four Chaos Avenger Tokens (2300/200) in face-up attack mode!" Silhouettes of the Black Luster Soldier, its chaotic counterpart, the Queen's Knight and the Jack's Knight appeared on the field.

Chaos Gilford raised its sword and a bolt of black lightning hit each and every one of them. They shrieked in pain and began to undergo a disgusting metamorphosis. They shed all their armor and their skin began to fall off. They grew in size, and grew new armor.

The end result was a horrible warrior, dressed in gray armor. Every one had eyes glowing with revenge and rage. They carried hooked swords and horrible axes that looked like they were made for torture rather than battle. Every one had something demonic about them.

"Foolish! Summon Lightning Impact!" Slifer fired four balls of energy at each one, leaving them with shattered armor and broken weapons. Each one had injuries (300/2000).

"They cannot attack anyway, and their survival is my only concern. I now equip Chaos Gilford-Lord of Lightning with United We Stand, boosting his attack strength by a massive four thousand!" Yugi's eyes widened as tendrils of energy flowed from each one of the Chaos Avenger Tokens towards their creator.

"What the hell?" he gasped as his grandfather's ace monster shot up to 8100 attack points. "Now, destroy his god with Chaos Thunderbolt Cut!"

Roaring loudly, the black dragon spat out a black fireball of energy at the dragon god. At the same time, its rider let lose a torrent of lightning from its sword. The two blasts combined two form a blast of deadly, flaming black lightning. It hit Slifer head-on. The titanic, sinuous god struggled against the pain and tried to counter attack. But it was in vain, and with a roar that shook the heavens, it finally shattered.

Yugi stood there, simply stupefied by Slifer's destruction. "See! You are nothing without your gods! You used the Pharaoh and the Egyptian god cards to make it to the top. Once I strip you of both, you'll be pathetic."

"SHUT UP!" roared Yugi. "Don't you dare say anything else! I am going to make you eat those words!"

"It's a bit hard, considering Chaos Gilford-Lord of Lightning has eighty-one hundred attack points and is immune to all monster effects. Just to make sure you don't try and attack my Chaos Avenger Tokens, I'll activate Token Thanksgiving, sacrificing each one to boost my life-points by thirty-two hundred. I also chain Fruits of Greed. Since I gained over three thousand life-points, I draw a card for every 1000 life-points I gained, so I draw three."

He ended his turn with four cards in his hand.

(Yugi: 5350, Solomon: 3400)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tea glanced over her eleven cards. With over forty thousand life-points, she could sit back and let him hurt her but it wouldn't work. She didn't intend to do that. She intended to show him the full force of her angels.

"I activate End of the World, sacrificing Archlord Zerato (2800/2300) from my hand to summon Ruin, Queen of Oblivion (2300/2000)!"

Gradually, a beautiful woman with white long hair appeared. She was wearing black gloves that came up right above her elbows and a long sleeveless dress that went around her neck and dropped to the ground. Her dress had red on the top part, followed by white and finally black from her hips down. She held a strange, gold staff. On her head sat a black and partially red crown that stuck up, but had a bit of a plate in the back.

"Not bad," confirmed Anubis.

"Attack his life-points directly!" "Unacceptable, mortal girl. I activate my facedown card, Greed of the Shadows. I can negate an attack and special summon a level four or lower dark monster from my hand. I choose Dark Breaker (1600/1000)!"

The shadows around them coalesced into one form, which blocked the attack. It began to gain features, and looked up at Tea. She raised an eyebrow. The monster was identical to Yugi's monster, Breaker the Magical Warrior, except that it was dressed in black armor and carried a red sword. A horrible scar blinded him in one eye.

"I know what you're thinking. It's true, it is very similar to Breaker the Magical Warrior." Tea didn't answer.

"You see, long ago there was a group of some of the first magic-users to ever exist. They were the Breakers. They were independent from the rest of the kingdom, and were allowed to do as they pleased, for there power was feared. Soon, this got to their head and they headed down the path to evil. Only one did not stray. He was Breaker the Magical Warrior. He joined the forces of Light, and helped them eradicate his wicked brethren. However, some survived. They regrouped, and for long they have plotted revenge against their brother, the one fool who betrayed them. Now, I will make sure they succeed!"

Anubis burst into horrible laughter. "Dark Breaker gains a counter upon being summoned. It boosts his attack points by 300." His new monster (1600 + 300 1900/1000) glowed with dark energy.

Tea shrugged. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

(Tea: 40100, Anubis: 8000)

Anubis drew, boosting Tea's life-points even more. "I summon Torture Breaker (1600 + 300 1900/1000)!" The new monster was horribly grotesque. It was dressed in broken armor, and carried a wicked-looking spear in one hand. On its armor hung various torture implements. It revealed its face, showing several cuts and scars. It gave Tea a nasty grin.

"I remove Torture Breaker's counter to cut your monsters attack points in half and hit you with the same amount of life-point damage!" Tea grimaced as the Torture Breaker raised his spear and aimed it at Ruin. It hit her shoulder, and she gave a cry of pain. Blood spurted from the wound, and she was able to pull out the spear and break it. But the damage was done (1150/2000).

Tea felt an ever so slight pain in her chest as he lost a small fraction of her total life-points.

"Next I remove Dark Breaker's counter. I get to draw a card, and if there are other Breakers on the field I can draw another card. So that's two cards for me."

"That was foolish," pointed out Tea. "You just undid whatever damage you did to me. Solemn Wishes grants me another thousand life-points. Plus I activate my facedown continuous trap card, Appropriate. It gives me two cards for every timeyou draw outside your draw phase. Which means I gain another 500 life-points."

Anubis ignored this. "Now, I'll have both Breakers attack you directly!" The Torture Breaker grinned at his partner, who nodded. The two rushed across the field. While the Dark Breaker slammed his sword into Tea's shoulder, the Torture Breaker pulled out a dagger and was about to stab her when she glared at him. There seemed to be a burst of white energy from around her, and they were knocked across the room back to Anubis.

He was amused. "Rather impressive. It seems the angels in your deck would do a lot to protect their mistress. But this is a duel, and the damage is done."

Tea shrugged as the God of Death ended his turn.

(Tea: 39600, Anubis: 8000)

Tea drew, giving her eleven cards. "I activate Spell Absorption, which gives me 500 life-points for every spell card that is played." Anubis shrugged.

"Next I set three cards facedown and play Emergency Sustenance. It only activates when Emergency Provisions is in my graveyard. I gain fifteen hundred life-points per sacrificed card." Her life-points went up to 44100.

"Two of those cards were 'A Second Chance'. I remove them from play to draw four cards." Her hand size grew to ten and she gained another 2000 life-points. "I play Mind Wipe, which lets me make you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw the same number of cards. I get two cards thanks to Appropriate. Since the two of us drew a total of five cards, I gain 2500 life-points by Solemn Wishes."

Anubis snarled in rage. "I play another Mind Wipe, giving me two more cards and twenty-five hundred more life-points." Anubis barely had time to look through his new hand when Tea spat, "I play the third and final Mind Wipe! Don't forget Spell Absorption. Thanks to that, I've gained nine thousand from this entire combo."

Her life-points were at 55100, and she had thirteen cards in her hand. "Time to strike back. I summon Warrior of Zera (1600/1600)!"

A man with green gloves, a green helmet with dog like ears sticking up from it, a green piece that covered part of his chest and shoulders, a pair of blue pants, a red scarf wrapped around his neck, and dark brown skin with well toned muscles appeared. In his right hand was a blue sword and his left held some kind of chain that hooked to the sword.

"Then I activate the continuous spell card, Muka Muka Energy, which boosts the attack points of all monsters on my field by 200 for every card in my hand. Since I have eleven, my Warrior of Zera (3800/1600) is stronger than both your monster's combined! Destroy Dark Breaker!"

The Warrior of Zera nodded and rushed forward. With a cry of victory, it slashed down with its sword. The Dark Breaker attempted to parry, but it was not possible. It was immediately destroyed.

"I end my turn with a facedown card," she said viciously.

(Tea: 55100, Anubis: 5800)

Anubis drew. He didn't seem worried that Tea's life-points were about nine times his. "I summon Shadow Breaker (1600 + 300 1900/1000)!" The new one could barely be seen in the darkness. It had the same basic shape as other Breakers, and its sword was much longer. Its features flitted in and out of sight, showing signs of hate and anger.

"I can sacrifice his counter to give another Breaker on the field two more counters. I choose Torture Breaker (1600 + 600 2200/1000)! Then I remove one to torture both you and your Warrior of Zera." The Warrior of Zera screeched in pain as the Torture Breaker slashed it with a dagger, cutting its attack points to eighteen hundred. Tea was the next victim, and she winced as her life-points dropped a bit.

"Attack and destroy Warrior of Zera, my Torture Breaker!" The warrior shrieked in delight and attacked the angel with a spiked-mace. It cried out in pain repeatedly before it fell to the ground, dead.

"Shadow Breaker, show this foolish girl your might and attack with Blade of Shadows!" The shadowy warrior fired a bolt of energy at Tea. She grasped her chest in pain. Grimacing, she shook of the pain.

"Since two Breakers have successfully attacked this turn, I activate the quick-play Evil Breaker's Clan, which lets me sacrifice one Breaker on the field to draw two cards and special summon another Breaker from my deck. I sacrifice Shadow Breaker to summon the level eight Demon Breaker (2700 + 600 3300/2400), who comes forth with two counters! It makes no difference, as he can hold a limitless number of counters." The evil god increased his hand size to four as his shadowy warrior disappeared.

Tea suddenly shot back, "I activate my facedown trap, Appropriate Reversal. While Appropriate is in play, both of us draw a card when any card is activated. So you see, every time a card is activated I gain 2500 life-points and draw three cards, even though you get one." Her life-points went up to 54600.

It was replaced by a new one that was more horrible than all the previous ones combined. This Breaker had no armor, and although it retained the vague humanoid shape of its brothers, it was truly something else. Its skin was blood red, and it wore black rags. It was very muscular, and its features were very demonic. It had two small horns twisting out of the top of its head, and its eyes were a horrible yellow. It held a dagger in one hand, but nothing else.

"I know he makes Torture Breaker look handsome. But Demon Breaker ranks high among the Breakers for a reason. I activate his ability, removing one of his counter to special summon a Breaker from the grave,. I choose Shadow Breaker!" The shadowy beast appeared once again and growled at Tea.

"Then I activate his other effect, which lets me remove his other counter to give another Breaker one more counter. Shadow Breaker is my choice. I immediately remove it to give Demon Breaker two more counters. Once again I remove one to boost Shadow Breaker's strength."

Tea gasped. Anubis had the perfect loop in play. He could remove one of Demon Breaker's counters to give it to Shadow Breaker, from whom he could remove it again to boost Demon Breaker's strength by 300. Then the loop began again, with Anubis giving Demon Breaker's counter to Shadow Breaker. It continued on until he could eventually boost his Demon Breaker's attack power to infinity.

She had nearly fifty-five thousand life-points, but it was little compared to what Anubis would have on the field.

Tea helplessly watched the exchange of energy between the Demon Breaker and the Shadow Breaker. The former began to grow in size as Anubis laughed. Eventually, the Demon Breaker was about to size of a three-storey building. It's muscles were bulging, and its dagger was now a fifteen foot long daemon-blade (∞/1000).

The entire building was shaking because of the power radiated by the demonic warrior

"Demon Breaker, attack this foolish girl directly and end the duel!"

The monster shrieked and sprang into the air. It landed half way between them, and its sword began to glow. Suddenly, it was upon the vengeful angel duelist. With a cry, it slammed its sword down.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dartz looked at his two opponents almost kindly. "Since the two of you are too foolish to realize that the duel has begun, I'll play first. No one can attack until each of us has had a turn. I have sixteen thousand life-points, while each of you have eight thousand. Now, let us begin! I summon Orichalcos White Knight (1900/1600)!" A strange knight dressed in white armor appeared. It held up a pearly blade and saluted Dartz.

"Next I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Joey drew. "I activate Black Dragon Ritual, sacrificing Jinzo (2400/1500) from my hand to special summon Knight of the Black Dragon (1900/1200)!" A tall knight dressed in black armor appeared on Joey's field. It drew a long sword and growled at the Orichalcos White Knight. "I sacrifice him to special summon the Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000) from my deck!"

The knight was disappeared, and was replaced by the familiar, deadly, black dragon who roared loudly at Dartz. Its red eyes shown with bloodlust.

"Next I play Monster Reborn to revive Jinzo (2400/1500), which means that none of us can activate traps." Dartz frowned as the deadly android erupted from the ground. "I end my turn."

It was Zane's turn. "I summon Cyberdark Edge (800/800)." Slowly materializing onto the field was a strange looking creature with long metallic wings that head sharp blade feathers. The metallic creature looked like a large bug with a long tail that had a pincher type tail, pinchers on its mouth, and two stick like arms. The wings on the creature were massive.

"Next I play Foolish Burial, sending Rare Metal Dragon (2400/1200) from my deck to the graveyard. I next activate Cyberdark Edge's special ability, equipping him with Rare Metal Dragon!"

A metallic dragon on four legs with sharp clawed hands and feet appeared onto the field. Its metallic body was coated with metallic spikes, along with a few small claws on its elbows. Once fully on the field, the large metallic like bug moved in and wrapped its arms around the dragon. Wires began running from the bug's body then to the dragon, seemingly plugging in, making the dragon grunt in pain.

"This increases my monster's strength by the attack points of the equipped dragon." The Cyberdark Edge (800 + 2400 3200/800) was now the strongest monster in play. It shrieked at Dartz. "I set one card facedown and end my turn." A brown-backed card appeared behind the deadly machine.

Dartz was genuinely impressed. "This brings back memories of my duel with Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba. Of course, the two of you will not pose half the challenge they did. I sacrifice Orichalcos White Knight for Orichalcos Death Monarch (2400/1000)!"

The knight disappeared, and was replaced by a hulking figure in green armor. It was so huge that it had to lean over and support itself on its arms. It groaned at the sight of its master's opponents.

"Next I play the herald of Order! The true symbol of the righteous! I play the Seal of Orichalcos!" Zane and Joey both grimaced as the deadly green pentagram spread out across the field. It was surrounded by a circle.

The Orichalcos Death Monarch (2400 + 500 2900/1000) was far more powerful than before. It could easily destroy either of Joey's monsters. "Activate special ability, Death Summon! I can remove a monster in my graveyard from play to special summon an Orichalcos monster in my hand. I choose this! Orichalcos Nine-Tailed Fox (2000 + 500 2500/2500)!"

Dartz's newest creature was a hideous fox, yet so beautiful. Standing about thirty feet high, it had smooth; brownish-red fur glistened in the darkness. Its head looked normal enough, but its eyes glowed a demonic black, and were filled with bloodlust. Most shockingly, it had nine tails. They billowed out in the air behind its body. The fox growled at Joey and Zane.

"Hmm…. Since this duel amuses me so much, I won't do anything right now, other an throwing a facedown. End turn."

Joey drew. "I play Polymerization, fusing my Red Eyes Black Dragon with the Summoned Skull (2500/1200) that I acquired a little while ago, to special summon the Black Skull Dragon (3200/2500)!"

A vortex appeared on Joey's side of the field, even as he discarded a card from his hand and placed his Red-Eyes Black Dragon card in his Graveyard, and a silhouette of a skeletal-looking fiend appeared for a moment before it and Red-Eyes Black Dragon were sucked into the vortex. Moments later, from the vortex flew an even bigger dragon, but this one looked just like the skeletal fiend, except it had Red-Eye's wings, tail, and jaws.

"Next I equip Jinzo with Amplifier, to boost its attack points by eight hundred, to thirty-two hundred." The android crackled with electricity. "Jinzo, attack his mutt with Psycho Shock!" The robot buzzed and fired a sphere of dark, purple energy at the Nine-Tailed Fox.

"I activate my facedown card, Selfish Will! By sacrificing a monster on the field, I can end my opponent's battle-phase, as well as draw cards equal to the level of the monster divided by two. I sacrifice Death Monarch to draw three cards."

The hulking king disappeared, and the Nine-Tailed Fox batted away Jinzo's attack with a snap of its tail.

Joey growled. "Fine. I end my turn."

Dartz smiled kindly at Zane. "Take your turn, Mr. Truesdale. Take a your turn, and take a walk into oblivion."

**I love that Yugi vs. Solomon duel. It's easily the most intense I've ever written. There is a lot more to come. Solomon hasn't even given half of his total strength yet. And Metal Overlord 2.0., here's more support for less recognized cards.**

**Well, there are too many original cards to ignore.**

**Solomon: Delta, Zeta, Sigma, Omega, Eplison, Black Luster Lord- Master of Chaos, Envoy of the Black Luster Soldier, Triple-Headed Thunder Dragon, Chaos Gilford-Lord of Lightning, Fruits of Greed.**

**Yugi: Magician's Brooding, Underworld Gem (I think that's it)**

**Anubis: Fury Devil Dragon, Underworld Knight, Fury Dark Dragon Knight, Shadow Breaker, Dark Breaker, Demon Breaker, Torture Breaker.**

**Tea: Repayment of Losses (Seeker of the Soul), A Second Chance (SotS), Emergency Sustenance (SotS), Muka Muka Energy (SotS)**

**Dartz: Everything except the Seal) **


	35. Family Business

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: Family Business

**Another insane chapter. Man, I could get used to these massive chapters.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: If you liked Solomon's dueling then, you're going to love it now. A friend told me that the deck had WAY too many high level monsters, and made no sense, but that was exactly what Yugi's first deck was like. This is beatdown at its best. Hell, if you look at it, there are very few strategies that come to mind other than beatdown. Dream Duel is coming along nicely, for your first YGO fic. I wonder what else Yami Marik has up his sleeve.**

**mystralwind: Glad you liked it.**

Yugi took a breath and drew. He had a full hand of seven cards, which gave him more options. He looked it over, thinking of the combos. He knew all the effects and stats by heart. Suddenly, he grinned. It would take one turn.

"All right. I set a monster facedown and a card facedown as well. End turn." Two brown-backed cards appeared in front of the master duelist.

Solomon drew. "Pathetic! Here comes Berserk Warrior (1900/600)!" A strange monster appeared on the field. It was dressed in classic, Japanese armor, and carried a long katana. Its looked like its adrenal glands were permanently open, as it was continuously hyperventilating.

"Attack his facedown monster with Berserk Blade!" The samurai rushed forward with an insane war-cry. It cut down, but it was revealed that the monster was a blue-skinned elf dressed in robes. "My Mystical Elf (800/2000) is too strong," challenged Yami.

"Very well then. Chaos Gilford, obliterate that irritation with Chaos Thunderbolt Cut!" His monster still had forty-nine hundred attack points, and it didn't matter if his Chaos Avenger Tokens were gone. The warrior and dragon each fired lightning and flames at the elf respectively. It was immediately destroyed.

"I end my turn," sneered the old man.

(Yugi: 5350, Solomon: 3300)

The King of Games drew. "I summon Yellow Gadget (1200/1200) in attack mode!" A tiny yellow robot with turning gears on its shoulders, extending arms and legs, and had one red eye.

"Pathetic!" sneered Solomon. "I wouldn't say that. When he's summoned in any way, I get to add a specific monster from my deck to my hand. That monster is Greed Gadget (1400/600)." He quickly located the required monster and shuffled his deck.

"I don't see where this is going," complained Solomon. "Just wait. I activate my facedown continuous trap, Ultimate Offering. By paying 500 extra life-points per summon, I can perform an extra normal summon this turn. I immediately summon Green Gadget!"

Yugi slammed yet another card onto the monster card zone of his Duel Disk, and a monster that looked just like Yellow Gadget, except that it was a green color, materialized and also held up its arms, preparing to do battle.

"When he's summoned, I can add Red Gadget (1300/1500) to my hand. I summon him right away!" Then another mechanical monster appeared: a third Gadget monster similar in comparison to Green Gadget and Yellow Gadget. Only difference, it was colored red.

"You've summoned three perfectly useless monsters," snapped the Game Shop owner. "I now want to know what the point is."

"I'm going to show you. First I play Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy your United We Stand!" Solomon scoffed as Chaos Gilford's attack points fell a bit. "Forty-one hundred is still too much for you."

"I next equip my Green Gadget with the Malevolent Nuzzler." The green machine beeped as its attack points shot up to 2100."

"Finally comes Brave Attack, which combines the attack points of all monsters on my field and allows them to attack one of yours as if they were one monster!" "No!" yelled Solomon as he quickly figured out the math.

"Green Gadget, Red Gadget, Yellow Gadget (4600)! Attack together with Triple Gadget Burst!" The old man growled in anger as the three machines beeped simultaneously. There eyes flashed red and they all rushed forward. First, the Green Gadget dealt the warrior a stunning blow across the face with its powerful fist.

Gilford struck back with its sword, slicing the machine in half. Immediately, its red-colored brother attacked the dragon with a double kick. Gilford's mount grunted before it destroyed the machine by spitting a ball of fire at it.

The Yellow Gadget beeped in anger, and began to spin. Its legs were clapped together and its arms were stretched out. It was spinning so fast that it now resembled a cyclone.

Much to Solomon's dismay, the yellow tornado rushed towards the fusion monster. As it hit, there was an explosion. Yugi shielded himself from the dust, but couldn't resist a smile. "Thanks guys…."

When the smoke cleared, Solomon's field was empty, and the man himself was exhausted. "Chaos Gilford may be gone, but I warned you before and will say the same again. My deck has many, many more beasts to crush you with! There is no way you will survive!"

Yugi shrugged. "You look like the one in a bad position, actually. Next, I summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700)!"

A mage in black robes with large shoulder pads, a green staff held in two hands, black gloves, a black helmet, and only his face visible appeared. "I end my turn with a facedown." Yugi had no cards in his hand.

(Yugi: 3850, Solomon: 2800)

Solomon smirked. "I spoke of powerful monsters for a reason, little Yugi."

Yugi narrowed his eyes. "Another one?"

"I play Emergency Reinforcements, to special summon a level four or lower monster from my deck, on the condition you get an extra draw. Meet Flame Hell Burner (1800/1500)!" A warrior that seemed to be made purely of flames appeared. It wore no armor, and it had a sword that seemed to be composed of fire as well. It grunted at Yugi, who happily picked the next card off his deck.

"Don't forget that since a spell card was activated, my Skilled Dark Magician gains a counter." A small orb lit up over Yugi's monster.

"Upon being summoned, I can add a level five or six monster from my deck to my hand. If I don't summon it this turn, I have to discard it. My choice is the Millennium Shield (0 500 500/3000)!" He quickly found the necessary card and added it to his hand.

"I sacrifice Flame Hell Burner to summon it in attack mode!" The flaming creature was replaced by a shield that was glowing. It was framed by the Eye of Wdjat. "Attack mode?" Yugi raised an eyebrow.

"Just wait. I sacrifice Millennium Shield from my field, and discard another Shield and Sword from my hand to summon the most powerful level six monster in the game, my Millennium Sword (3000 500 3500/0)!" The shield glowed even more, and suddenly began to morph. It grew much thinner, and a blade began to sprout from the top.

Soon, the entire shield had taken on the form of a handle, along with long pommels. A long, red blade sprouted from the top. Yugi was taken aback.

"Millennium Sword?" "Yes. Watch, as his effect activates! Upon being summoned I can return a magic or trap card from the graveyard to my hand. I choose Fusion Recovery." Yugi didn't seem to care. He was focusing on the fact that Solomon's new monster had three thousand attack points.

"I activate Fusion Recovery, returning Polymerization and Millennium Shield to my hand." Yugi paled, but said nothing as his magician gained another counter.

"Next comes Polymerization, to fuse Millennium Shield and Millennium Sword to special summon my mighty Millennium Warrior (3000 500 3500/3000)!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagemaru gave Bakura a funny look. "Chaos King of the Dark World? No such card exists. I know about nearly every demon type monster that exists."

"Well, _nearly_ is the key world," shrieked Bakura. "Colorless is the ultimate Dark World monster, and he will destroy you!" The spirits of Grei and Reign-Beaux appeared on the field. They crossed their weapons, and began to chant.

"What the hell is going on?" snarled Kaiba. "Death awaits!" roared Bakura. "Death awaits those who dare challenge me."

Unholy black flames erupted all over Bakura's field. The Overlord and Commander of the Dark World were both consumed by the fire, but they didn't drop their position. They glared at Armitael and continued to chant incessantly. Suddenly, the flames rose up even more, and they were completely consumed.

They seemed to burn away. Now, wraiths of every Dark World monster in the graveyard seemed to be appearing around Bakura and his field. They began to shriek in anticipation. Even the mighty Goldd was joining in, howling in feral joy.

A towering shadow appeared from in the flames. It wasn't as tall as Armitael, but it was definitely a good match in size. It was very bulky. Armitael roared a challenge. A single, resounding roar erupted from within the flames. Every monster on the field was silenced, and the wraiths disappeared.

A massive arm was raised, and the flames dissipated. In the darkness, it was difficult to look at the creature at first, but when Kagemaru saw it, he then got an idea of what kind of beast he and Armitael were facing.

It was roughly forty feet tall, and wore platinum armor. Other than the armor, its entire body was translucent. It seemed to absorb what little light was available, and used it to form vague body parts. Its arms were each the size of a tree-trunk, and very muscular. Long claws sprouted from its fingers. A black cape fell to the demon's ankles. It raised its head, and under a helmet, Kagemaru was surprised to see a strangely human face. It did have a few demonic features, such as red eyes, and an angled nose. The eyes, cape and armor were the only part of its body that held any light.

It growled. The entire arena shook. Even the Master of Dragon Soldier was shocked by the appearance of such a creature.

Kagemaru shook his head. "Ridiculous! That creature is no match for Armitael!"

Bakura gave him a grin that looked humorous and at the same time more terrifying than the duelist had ever seen before. For the second time in his life, he knew true fear.

"Do not be so quick to judge Colorless. To begin with, he starts with five thousand attack and defense points." Kagemaru gulped. With seventy-five life-points, there was not much he could do against that kind of power.

"It then gains five hundred more attack and defense points for every Dark World monster in my graveyard. There are six." The titanic fiend (8000/8000) roared as it glowed with unholy black fire. "Next I activate Dark World Lightning, which forces you to choose two cards in my hand, and make me discard them."

Kagemaru grimaced and selected the middle two cards. They were Blui, Soldier of the Dark World (1400/1900), and a final Zure, Knight of the Dark World (1800/1600). Colorless' attack points went up to nine thousand.

"Colorless' second effect activates. If a Dark World monster is sent to the graveyard this turn, I can choose another Dark World monster from my deck and special summon it to the field. My choice is Sillva, Warlord of the Dark World (2300/1400) in defense mode!"

Another beast appeared. It resembled Goldd ever so slightly, but was had silver skin, and was dressed in silver furs and armor. It held a long dagger. It was kneeling next to the mighty Colorless, with its arms crossed defensively. Its demonic features were twisted in awe of the Chaos King, which towered over it.

"Next I activate Blui's effect from the graveyard. One Dark World monster of mine now gains a permanent thousand more attack and defense points." Colorless (10000/10000) was now as strong as Armitael when it was powered up.

"Now Colorless, obliterate his Armitael when Dark World Chaos Blast!" The horrible beast shrieked. It slammed its hands together at the wrists, and black and white fire began to glow on its stretched out palms. With a shriek, it let lose all its energy in Armitael's direction. The towering column of energy struck Armitael, causing it to cry out in pain.

"I will not allow this! I activate the quick-play magic card, Once Stung, Twice as Deadly! By removing five monsters in my graveyard from play, I can activate set two trap cards from my hand, and activate one. So say goodbye to Meteor Demon, Archfiend Soldier, Summoned Skull, Kuribabylon, and Dark Summons God, to set these two cards."

The new, brown-backed cards appeared behind the huge form of Armitael. "Next I immediately activate Chaos Form, which randomly selects card a graveyard or removed from play pile. Chaos Form equips itself to Armitael. When the monster is chosen, Armitael's attack points become those of the chosen monster."

The combo creature grunted and began to fire its own attack at Colorless in order to stall till the monster was chosen.

"You do realize, only Uria, Lord of Searing Flames has enough attack points to survive. Otherwise, there is no hope for you." Kagemaru glared at Bakura. "Chaos Form, choose the appropriate monster!"

He held his Duel Disk up. It glowed a bit, and a card fell out of the graveyard slot. Kagemaru held it up. Sure enough, it depicted a huge, red, snake-like dragon.

"See! It is pure fate that you should be defeated. Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (10000/10000) is Armitael's weapon of choice to decimate that pathetic excuse for a monster! Counter-attack Armitael, with Metamorphosis Wave!"

Roaring loudly, the large combination creature opened its jaws and reared its head backwards. Drawing power into its jaws, the creature lowered its head and spread its wings fully open. Orange energy came streaming out of the creature's mouth and struck the Colorless' attack (10000/0).

"Since Armitael is immune to destruction in battle, Colorless is doomed!" shrieked Kagemaru.

Bakura shook his head, his crazed eyes reflecting a touch of amusement. "I don't think so. I activate Colorless' third ability. By sacrificing a monster on the field, I can make him immune to destruction in one way. My choice is battle. Both have ten thousand attack points, and neither can be destroyed in battle. Therefore, this clash is for nothing."

Kagemaru shrieked in anger as the two monsters pushed back and forth with their blasts. Finally, the two were exhausted, and dropped their attacks.

Bakura's eyes flashed. "I end my turn." Armitael's attack points fell back to zero.

Kagemaru drew with insane strength. He didn't bother looking at the new card. "I refuse to give you another opportunity to defeat me. First, Armitael gains 10,000 attack points." The large fusion (10000/0) glowed with insane strength.

"Next I activate my final trap card, Rage of the Demon! One fiend type monster now gains the ability to attack all monsters on my opponent's field and give him a direct attack. Since I have two opponents, it applies to both. Armitael, end this duel with Eternal Destruction!"

Letting out a mighty roar that shook the island, the large combination creature began gathering dark orange energy within its jaws. Spreading its wings out fully, the large creature released a stream of dark orange energy straight for Colorless.

The Thief King was still rather amused. "I activate my Chaos King's final ability. By discarding a Dark World monster from my hand, I can immediately end my opponent's battle phase. Say goodbye to Brron, Mad King of the Dark World (1800/400), so that Armitael's attack his completely negated!"

A horrible, cackling fiend appeared next to Colorless, who ruthlessly grabbed it in one of its massive hands. It quickly squeezed it, and it disappeared in a wisp of smoke. The Chaos King of the Dark World grunted, and clenched its fist.

Armitael began to glow. It gave a growl of pain, and stopped its attack.

Kagemaru froze. "IMPOSSIBLE! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS! I WILL NOT LOSE!" he roared in crazed fury.

Bakura gave him a pleasant smile. "You just did. Kaiba, take your turn."

"With pleasure," sneered the CEO. He drew, and without bothering to look at it, he sneered, "Master of Dragon Soldier! Attack now with Dragon Saber Blast!"

The powerful soldier's sword began to swell with white twisting energy as the three dragon heads filled with white energy as well. The three heads released a stream of powerful white energy in combination with the knight, who released a burst of energy from his sword. The four streams intertwined together, forming one, invincible blast.

"I WILL NOT GO DOWN LIKE THIS!" was all Kagemaru could roar in disbelief as the attack crashed into Armitael's chest. It let out a horrible shriek of pain before the blast began to eat away at its entire torso. Suddenly, Kaiba let out an exhilarating yell. The Master of Dragon Soldier grunted, and let lose all its energy into that one blast. It tore through the massive combination creature, and continued on. Kagemaru was hit dead on, and the attack threw him off his feet. His life-points hit zero.

He fell to the ground about fifteen feet away, and Kaiba's fusion stopped its attack. "And that's game," sneered Kaiba. Armitael's injured form disappeared.

Bakura smirked, and slowly walked over to the Legendary Demon duelist's prone form. He bent down, and looked over the body. "He's out for a long while."

Standing up, he noticed that Colorless and Armitael were still on the field. He sighed. "There is no point in continuing this duel, Kaiba. I hate you, and I think you're a deplorable jackass of a bloke, but it's just a waste of time to continue this when we have a common enemy. If you want to continue this, be my guest. Colorless will decimate your Master of Dragon Soldier next turn and end the duel. I'd rather not do that, as you'd be a valuable asset against those two."

Suddenly, he noticed that Kaiba was on his knees. "NO! NO! NO! Get the hell out of my head!"

"What the hell is going on?" snarled Bakura, taking a step toward the writhing man. Suddenly, he found himself flailing: Kaiba had punched him full across the face, and was once again grasping his head in pain.

Colorless growled, and began to power up some energy in its palm. "Wait!" snapped Bakura. The Chaos King stopped and nodded. The Thief King snarled and lunged forward. As Kaiba was standing up, he punched him back across the face.

In that moment of vulnerability, Bakura was able to reach out into the other man's consciousness with his mind. He felt the familiar feeling of leaving his body as he mentally probed Kaiba's mind's defenses. There was a lot of damage in the duelist's mind.

He stretched out his extension into Kaiba's mind. As his mental presence arrived, he found himself in a massive hallway. It was rather dark. With a sigh, he walked to a large steel door, and opened it. Walking down the passages for a few minutes, he allowed the magic of his Ring to guide him.

Honestly, this boy's mind was rather dull. Bakura himself was five thousand years old, but Seto was still in his twenties, and after all this time he should be able to think of more stuff. He randomly saw images of Duel Monsters appearing and disappearing. He saw Yami, Wheeler, Gardner and of course, Mokuba Kaiba. He noticed a young teenager with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes screaming at someone.

Kaiba's thoughts.

Finally, he found himself at another large door. He grunted and opened it. He found himself in a large, empty space. Immediately, he recognized Kaiba's Duel Dome. It was a wreck. There were flickering flames all along the floor, and the top was open to the night sky, twinkling with a few stars.

He suddenly heard laughter in the distance. Grunting, Bakura immediately began to run in that direction. There was a bit more fire there, and when he was about thirty feet away, he was able to see two figures. One was upright: it was the laughing one. The other was lying on the ground, groaning in pain.

As he got closer, Bakura could recognize the standing one. He gasped so loudly that the person turned around. "I didn't expect to find you of all people here… Thief King."

"_Anubis…"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tea's eyes flashed. "I will not lose to you so easily! I activate the quick-play spell card, Angelic Bounty! If there are three or more angels in my graveyard, I can special summon one of them to the field in defense mode and end my turn. I choose Warrior of Zera (1600 3000 4600/1600)!"

The Demon Breaker was about to come crashing down on Tea, when the lithe form of Tea's fairy shot out of the darkness and hit it squarely in the torso. The two monsters began to fall to the ground, grappling ferociously. They crashed down, the Demon Breaker immediately rolled away. Its brothers flanked it, and the three roared out a challenge to the Warrior of Zera.

But rules were rules. They couldn't attack it. Disgruntled, they slunk back to an enraged Anubis' field. "I will finish you sooner or later, mortal female! Why resist?" He ended his turn with six cards in his hand. Tea held eighteen, and had gained a bonus twenty-five hundred life-points.

(Tea: 57100, Anubis: 5800)

"Your strategy is flawed, Ms. Gardner. Although your insane draw engine deck is rather effective when it comes to gaining life-points, it is fast thinning out your deck. If you continue this way, you're going to soon deck yourself out."

The angel duelist gave him a withering look as she drew. "I activate Eternal Revival! It only activates when I have more than ten cards in my hand. I can pay two thousand life-points to return all cards in my graveyard back to my deck!" Anubis growled in frustration as she shuffled every card in her graveyard back into her deck. He estimated that she now had over thirty cards left in her deck.

"Even a hand of eighteen cards cannot defeat a monster with infinite attack points!" challenged Anubis. "Perhaps not. But this one card can: activate Hammer Shot, which destroys the strongest monster in play. Very obviously, Demon Breaker is invariably the target." She draw four cards, and her life-points immediately shot up, while Anubis grudgingly contended himself with one draw.

A massive hammer seemed to descend out of nowhere, and crushed the horrible creature. "Next I summon my Agent of Deception – Uranus (1900 4000 5900/1600)!" The new angel was blue-skinned. It had two large wings flapping out on either side, and was dressed in platinum armor. In one hand it held a small dagger. Upon receiving glares from the two evil Breakers, it simply grunted and silenced them. "He lets me draw a card for every monster that my opponent has more than me. Also, I can use a monster card zone to play a magic or trap while he's one the field."

"With over six thousand attack points thanks to Muka Muka Energy, Uranus is more than strong enough to obliterate you! Attack his Shadow Breaker with Holy Deception!" Anubis smirked.

"You may have destroyed Demon Breaker, but he will still be a thorn in your side. By removing his from play, I can copy the effect of one magic or trap card in your graveyard. I choose Draining Shield." The invisible shield appeared in front of the Shadow Breaker. As usual, Tea's gain was much more than his, giving her a grand total of twenty-six cards in her hand.

Uranus' dagger had changed into sword as it was about to pounce on the Shadow Breaker. Suddenly, it bounced off the invisible shield. Twisting around in mid-air, it was able to land on its feet on Tea's field. It snarled at her opponent's before its sword transformed back into a dagger.

She looked over her hand of nearly thirty cards. Her insane draw power had given her just the card she needed. There were lots of combos she could pull off with her crazy hand size, but this was the best.

"Well, if you wish to defend, I'm not going to stop you. But I want to know, that if it's been so difficult to defend against these weaker monsters, what would you do if I summoned up an army?" Anubis narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I activate Holy Summoning! By sacrificing one angel on the field, I can special summon any number of fairies with combined attack points less than my monster's combined attack points, ignoring summoning conditions. Since it is currently at seventy-one hundred, I summon Seraphim Blader (1800 5800 7600/900), Seraphim Guardna (1000 5800 6800/2000), and Seraphim Gunner (1800 5800 7600/1200), and lastly, Seraphim Monarch (2500 5800 8300/1000)."

The first to appear was an angel in gray armor appeared. It had massive white wings, and its blue eyes shown as it waved its large sword about. Another armored angel, this one holding a massive steel shield, was second to appear. Finally came an angel in silver armor, holding a long rifle in one hand.

"Of course, each Seraphim gains 300 attack and defense points for every angel on the field, except for Seraphim monarch, who gains five hundred." All four of her monsters glowed with heavenly energy (8800/2100) (8000/3200) (8800/2400) (9800/2500).

"Since my battle phase is over, I'll have to end my turn. Anyway, Holy Summoning prevents me from attacking this turn at all." She had twenty-nine cards in her hand.

(Tea: 65100, Anubis: 11900)

Anubis had begun to take notice of Tea's insane combos. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. For the third time in his life, the God of Death knew true fear.

"How did you get so good?" he snarled. Tea ignored him. He growled and looked over his hand. Tea's combos benefited him as well. Although his nine cards was nothing to Tea's twenty-nine, he still had plenty of combos to choose from.

"You would ignore me? Fine! I switch both Shadow Breaker and Torture Breaker to defense mode and set another monster in defense mode." Even as she did this, his face spread into shock.

"Wait a minute! You have the Winged Dragon of Ra in your hand!" Tea gave him a cold look. "You catch on quickly, don't you Anubis?"

Signs of worry were beginning to show on his face. He snarled. "No! I will not allow this! Activate Confiscation, which lets me look through your hand and force you to discard a card at the cost of one thousand life-points!" She absently flipped her massive hand around, and gave him a brief look at her many cards.

He didn't even recognize most of them, so he didn't bother trying to make use of his advantage. "Your Winged Dragon of Ra will be far more comfortable rotting in the graveyard." Tea absently tossed the card depicting the mighty bird-like god into her graveyard slot.

"The effect of the Agent of Revival – Neptune (2100/200) activates while he's still in my hand. If you send a card from my hand to the graveyard, I can automatically activate a single card from my graveyard, regardless of the fact that my magic and trap card zone is full. I choose Emergency Sustenance. I sacrifice Spell Absorption to gain fifteen hundred life-points from Emergency Sustenance's own effect, and then another twenty-five hundred from my other combos."

One of her life-point gain cards disappeared, boosting her life-points by four thousand total. "It makes no difference that it's gone. I needed that slot empty if I wished to play more magic and trap cards. Anyway, Appropriate, Appropriate Reversal, Solemn Wishes and Muka Muka Energy will continue to haunt you."

He grunted in reply.

"I end my turn."

(Tea: 72100, Anubis: 10900)

Tea drew, giving her a magnificent thirty-nine cards in her hands, making it a miracle she was able to hold them all. It seemed like she had only fifteen cards left in her deck. Anubis began to feel satisfied again. At this rate, the wench would deck herself out.

"Of course, the greater number of cards gives my monsters more attack points." (10800/2100) (10000/3200) (10800/2400) (11800/2500). Her weakest monster could right now destroy a Megamorphed Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon without trying. Coupled with her crazy life-points and insane hand, it was a wonder she couldn't crush Anubis right then and then.

"It seems I've finally drawn the card that I need," she smirked. "The reason I've been drawing so much. I play the Seal of Orichalcos!"

"Are you insane, you wench?!" roared Anubis. He immediately slammed his fists together and began to focus on the energies of the Pyramid of Light in a desperate attempt to counteract the power of the Seal. The green circle appeared on the ground around them, even as Anubis desperately chanted in Egyptian. His Pyramid began to emit massive waves of Shadow magic.

It was to no avail. The Seal held strong. Abandoning his attempt, he looked up to see Tea with a truly crazed look on her face. The Seal was glowing on her forehead.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE?" shrieked Anubis.

"I've sealed your fate, that's what I've done, you idiot. You won't harm anyone after I take your soul." Her smile widened. "When I planned to take revenge, I planned to do so in a proper manner. Every person you've ever killed or hurt will now be avenged."

Her smile became deathly. "You're going to die, Anubis."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Millennium Shield and Millennium Sword began to swirl together in the usual vortex. Soon, a figure emerged from it. He was tall, and well-built. However, he seemed rather brain-dead. The warrior's eyes were sunken, and he didn't seem to care about what was going on around him. Even his armor seemed to mean nothing.

The only things that seemed to matter were the shield on his arm and the massive sword he carried (3000 500 3500/3000).

"That's the Millennium Warrior?" said Yugi in wonder.

"Yes. Legend goes that he was a knight who was obsessed with arms. He spent years collecting the rarest and most powerful weapons ever crafted. He chanced upon the two greatest ever: the Millennium Shield and Millennium Sword. The two are inhabited by a duo of spirits. The warrior began to use these weapons to such an extent that after a while the spirits took over his mind and the weapons began to control him. However, his skills are still present. With both weapons at his disposal, the Millennium Warrior is on the verge of invincibility!"

The young man gave his grandfather a disgusted look. "If strong monsters are all you've got, I still maintain that this won't last long."

Solomon glared at him. "We'll see, brat. Right now, I have to teach you a lesson."

"Perhaps, but not while Skilled Dark Magician has time to activate his effect. He now has three counters. Buh-bye Skilled Dark Magician, hello to Dark Magician (2500/2100) in defense mode!"

Yugi's current monster disappeared. The new mage had on dark purple robes with some battle armor. In his right hand was a long green staff. His hair was purple, and his eyes the color of lilac. He had pale skin and wore a strange mage's hat. Leaping forward, he landed onto the field and crossed his arms.

"So your most faithful servant returns," sneered Solomon. "Too bad he's much weaker than my Millennium Warrior!"

"He can attack every single one of your monsters, although unfortunately you only have one. What's more, Millennium Warrior has the infamous 'trample' ability. Attack with Millennium Blade!"

The deadly fusion growled, and charged across the field, sword raised. The Dark Magician grimaced and raised his hands in defense, but it was to no avail. He was sliced in half by the attack, leaving Yugi with a frown on his face as his life-points went down.

"End turn."

(Yugi: 2450, Solomon: 2800)

Yugi drew. "I will continue to obliterate your monsters! I play one of the cards which Pegasus gave me as a weapon to combine with the gods! Here comes Gift of the Gods! For every divine beast on my field or in my graveyard, I get to draw three cards. This now gives me a bonus six cards." Yugi spread out his open hand of seven cards.

"Time for your Millennium Warrior to follow Black Luster Lord, Omega, and Chaos Gilford." Solomon narrowed his eyes. "Your arsenal of gods has been exhausted. There is nothing in your deck to defeat the Millennium Warrior!"

Yugi shook his heads. "Gods are immaterial when it comes to defeating you! I can use anything in my deck to do so. Watch, as I play Emblem of the Dragon Destroyer, which lets me add Buster Blader (2600/2300) to my hand!"

He placed a card into his Duel Disk, and a strange bronze object appeared before him. It seemed to be a small trophy. Extending from opposite ends of the stand were claw-like decorations. Near the top of the award a round blue gem was set. An orange depiction of a dragon's head being stabbed by a sword decorated the gem.

He quickly searched out the fabled monster and added it to his hand. "Next up is my facedown Call of the Haunted, which lets me revive the Dark Magician!" The familiar magician appeared and stretched out its staff.

"Finally comes Double Spell! I discard the final Repayment of Losses to draw a card and get Polymerization from your graveyard." Disgruntled, Solomon reached for the magic card and tossed it to the King of Games.

"Next I play it, to fuse Dark Magician and Buster Blader for my mighty Dark Paladin (2900/2400)!"

Solomon only stood in shock as they watched the warrior and mage appear on the field. The two then began to swirl together, causing a black sphere to appear. The sphere touched down on the ground, and then finally dissipated to reveal a new mage. He had blue skin, long grey hair which was flowing out of his odd shaped helmet, and red eyes. He wore powerful looking blue armor with orange stripes all over it, and held a large magical staff that had a lance like sword on the top of it.

"As I'm sure you're aware, he gains five hundred attack points for every dragon in your graveyard and on your field. There are only two, Chaos Emperor Dragon, and Chaos Gilford, but its more than enough to take out your Millennium Warrior!" The Dark Paladin (2900 1000 3900/2400) stood strong as it glowed with energy that flowed out of Solomon's graveyard slot.

"Now, show him true power and attack his Millennium Warrior with Dragon Slayer Slash!"

The mage let out a mighty battle cry and leapt high into the air. Solomon watched wide eyed as Yugi's powerful fusion aimed his staff straight at his weaker monster. The mage then pushed power into this staff, forming a large black sphere of energy. Pulling his staff back, the mage swung the staff in front of himself, throwing the sphere of dark energy from the lance. With a mighty force, the black sphere struck the Millennium Warrior head on. The brain dead soldier didn't even cry out in pain. After a few seconds, a thunderous explosion followed, shattering Solomon's warrior's body shattered.

The man was panting with exertion. "Impressive… Very impressive. But not enough! 3900 is nothing compared to what I'm capable of bringing out!"

"Talk is cheap," said Yugi calmly. "If you actually take this guy down, maybe I'd give you a bit of credit. Besides the gods, he's among my most powerful creatures. Defeating him won't be a cakewalk, I can assure you that."

Solomon shrugged. "Anyway, when my Millennium Warrior is destroyed, I gain life-points equal to his attack points. Unfortunately, you gain life-points equal to your half your monster's attack points if I choose to use this effect."

Yugi shrugged and began to feel a bit warmer as his life-points went up.

"Good for you. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

(Yugi: 4400, Solomon: 6300)

It was back to the old man. He smirked. "Well, I set a monster in defense mode and next activate Painful Choice!" He searched through his deck. "Just the five cards that I need…." He held them up, and Yugi gasped in shock.

The cards were the Right Leg of the Forbidden One (200/300), Left Leg of the Forbidden One (200/300), Right Arm of the Forbidden One (200/300), Left Arm of the Forbidden One (200/300), and finally, Exodia the Forbidden One (1000/1000).

Yugi was stupefied. "Why the… Why the hell would you want to send those cards to the graveyard?" Solomon shook his head. "Language, Yugi. Now, choose one card that I get to keep."

Yugi shrugged. "Eh well. Keep the Left Arm." Solomon smirked and added that one card to his hand. He dumped the rest in his graveyard.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn," he smirked.

Yugi shrugged, and drew. "I activate my facedown Jar of Greed, to draw one card. At that same time, I chain the magic card, Greed of the Duelist. When a card with the word 'greed' in its name is activated, all other cards in my graveyard with the same are activated. Pot of Greed activates." He smirked as he drew three cards, giving him six.

"Watapon's (200/300) effect activates. Since I drew him by a card effect, I get to summon him right away." A small, pink puffball appeared next to the daunting Dark Paladin. It squeaked.

"Next I sacrifice him for my Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)." The stunningly pretty blonde spellcaster appeared and smiled at Yugi, before giving a glare to Solomon. "She also gains three hundred attack points because I have Dark Magician in my graveyard." (2300/1700)

"Since you seem a fan of Black Luster Soldiers, how about I show you one up close? I remove Skilled Dark Magician and Watapon from play to special summon my own Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

The air exploded with dark and light energies colliding together all over the field, slowly coalescing into the mighty black armored warrior that was probably the deadliest warrior in the game. It held up its sword menacingly.

"Finally, I play Supreme Sage's Stone. When Dark Magician Girl is on the field, I can special summon my Dark Magician (2500/2100) back to the field from my deck, hand, graveyard or removed from play pile!" Once again, Yugi's favorite monster appeared, wearing his strange purple armor. He crossed his arms, making sure his green staff was visible.

"Quite the army you've summoned up, Yugi," chuckled Solomon.

"But what help does it do you? Over ten thousand attack points worth of monsters, and I can snap each one like a twig."

Yugi glared. "I'll show you true power! Black Luster Soldier, lead the charge and destroy his monster!"

The deadly Chaos monster grunted in agreement, and charged across the field. With a swing of its blade, it cleaved the facedown monster in half. He just had enough time to notice that it was a floating ball of slime, when it was obliterated.

"Giant Germ (1000 500 1500/100). When this card is sent to the Graveyard as a result of battle, I can inflict 500 points of damage to your Life Points. I _can _special summon two more from my deck, but they have to be in face-up attack position." Two more, large slime-balls appeared, and Yugi grimaced as his life-points fell a bit to 3900.

"No problem. Black Luster Soldier… Go on and attack his first one."

Solomon chuckled. "Sorry. I activate Servitude of the Weak. When a monster with 1000 or less attack points is attacked, I can end your battle-phase, and boost my life-points by the combined levels of all your monsters multiplied by one hundred." The Chaos monster was stopped in its tracks, and the old man's shot up to 9200, far past his starting point.

Yugi was displeased. "Fine. I end my turn."

Solomon drew. "Fool… You left my Giant Germs on the field. At any cost, you should have destroyed them. Now you face the original beast, the one that started everything you were ever involved. It is strongest in the hands of its original master."

Yugi's brow creased. "What are you talking about?"

Solomon's smile widened. Suddenly, it hit Yugi. "NOT THAT!"

Solomon burst out laughing. "Yes! Yes! Yes! I sacrifice my two Giant Germs to summon the fourth Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000 500 3500/2500)!" The two germs disappeared, and were replaced by the colossal white dragon that was a true engine of destruction. It roared at Yugi's army of monsters.

Solomon was grinning nastily. "It's the original card that the fool Seto Kaiba tore up. Having access to Maximillion Pegasus's machines is really a perk. Repairing this one was a cakewalk! More would have been made, but after the original four were created, Pegasus destroyed the blueprints. A real shame. I'd love to imagine an army of duelists each armed with three Blue Eyes White Dragons each!"

He laughed at his private joke. "But here it is… The one monster that has been the bane of your dueling career since your first duel with Kaiba! Ironically, _this_ one is the very card you were dueling to avenge!"

Yugi was visibly shaken. But then again, as he reasoned, it made sense. Of course Marik would want to arm the old man with something powerful.

He lashed out angrily. "Fine! But my Dark Paladin (4400/2400) has just grown much stronger. You can attack any one of my monsters, but I can still destroy your Blue Eyes White Dragon next turn!"

"You probably could. But its all in good time, Yugi. Have patience. First I must play Graceless Charity. It lets me draw two cards at the cost of discarding one. I choose to discard the Left Arm of the Forbidden One!" He looked over his new cards, and let out a hollow laugh.

"It ends now. It all ends now." Yugi raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? Thirty-five hundred attack points is nowhere near enough, as I'm very sure you know." The old man began to laugh.

"I play Contract with Exodia! Since all five pieces of Exodia are now in the Graveyard, I can play this card. It allows me to special summon one of my ultimate weapons! Meet the monster known only as Exodia Necross (1800 500 2300/0)!"

Solomon's laughter continued as five dark beams of energy exploded from the five pieces of Exodia. The darkness collided and a shape began to form, slowly revealing a full-sized Exodia with a few oddities. It was black instead of tan, and a dark aura surrounded it, making it even eerier then ever.

Yugi blanched in horror. "Wait a second! I remember now! Kaiba told me about how Gozaburo Kaiba used it against him!" Upon remembering its effects and the like, he relaxed. "It's nowhere near invincible, though. I can finish it off easily."

"You could. You could also defeat my Blue Eyes easily. But what about both of them?"

Yugi blinked, confused for a second. Then it hit him. He spoke in a low voice. "Don't tell me…"

"Oh yes! I play my final Polymerization, to fuse Exodia Necross with my Blue Eyes White Dragon to summon the monster that will seal your fate! I choose to summon Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What are you doing inside Kaiba's mind, Anubis?!" spat Bakura. He clenched his fists, and his Ring glowed in preparation to do battle. He kept an eye on Kaiba's prone form that lay unconscious on the ground of the Duel Dome.

Anubis gave him an amused smile. "I'm not really Anubis, per say. I'm just a part of him." He laughed bitterly, his tone changing.

"Already, so much of my being has been split into those accursed dark Gods. What did it matter if I put a tiny portion of my power in this foolish man's mind to make sure no one would try and free him from my control? The fact that it made him a sadistic demon was a bonus."

Bakura gave him a strange look. "You're using Kaiba as a host?" "Of course." He noticed Bakura's clenched fist. He smirked.

"You wish to fight me? Please. You know that I could crush you with ease. If you leave now, I won't come after you." His Pyramid of Light glowed, as if to emphasize his point.

Bakura was well aware of it. He could feel that the portion of Anubis that was residing in the young CEO's mind was larger than he thought. Even at his absolute maximum strength, he couldn't keep up a battle of Shadow magic against Anubis for more than a few minutes. The mere fact that Anubis stood about seven foot six, while the Thief King himself was about five foot eight didn't help things. At the most, he could stall for time until Kaiba recovered. Then perhaps if they attacked together….

No. Even then it would be futile.

The Thief King suddenly realized that Anubis was walking towards him. Well, he wasn't going to give him a chance to think. What the hell….

He snarled as his golden aura exploded. Focusing on his magic, he forced power from his Millennium Ring into his hand. Slowly, a long, sword appeared in his right hand. It was completely golden, and seemed to be made of energy. The power flooded his body, making him feel warmer in the chilling recesses of the strange CEO's mind.

Bending his knees, he shot off towards the calmly walking Anubis with a grunt. He was skimming a few inches over the ground, and moving at maybe sixty miles an hour. Within a second, he was right in front of his opponent. He would have to bring all his mental energy to bear now.

With a roar, he swung his sword straight at Anubis' chest. For a minute, he actually thought he had hit his target, when he saw that two large fingers were blocking it. Anubis was simply staring at him.

With a snarl, Bakura whirled around, attempting to slash Anubis' flank. Without waiting to see if it had made contact, he began to swing his energy sword in different directions. It was like a tornado of golden energy was trying to crush Anubis.

After about three minutes of relentless attacks, Bakura tensed his knees, and leapt about fifteen feet away. To his shock, there wasn't a scratch on Anubis' body. He was still holding up his index and middle finger in the same eerie position that they had been when he had blocked Bakura's last strike.

"Crap…."

Anubis gave him a sad smile. "You had a lot of potential, Thief King. Although of course, its time to die now."

Bakura's eyes flashed. "NEVER!" He shouted a harsh phrase in Egyptian. Two monsters appeared on either side of him. One was Reign-Beaux, Overlord of the Dark World, and the other was Grei, Commander of the Dark World.

"KILL HIM!" screamed Bakura. The two monster roared and sped towards the advancing man. With a howl, Reign-Beaux's sword descended onto Anubis' shoulder, while Grei stabbed with its double-bladed staff in the direction of the God of Death's torso.

At the same time, Bakura let out a massive bolt of golden energy from his Ring in Anubis' direction. Anubis reacted so fast to all three attacks, that the Thief King found it hard to believe that he wasn't on some kind of steroids meant for your average God of Death.

He whirled around and punched Reign-Beaux full across the face. In the same movement, he grabbed Grei's neck in the same movement, and threw him in the way of the oncoming blast. It vaporized him, and continued on in Anubis' direction. With a bored sigh, he raised his hand and caught the blast. It continued on, and Anubis seemed to absorb it. With a grunt, he fired it back. This time, it had quadrupled in size.

Bakura's eyes widened. He focused his magic, and tensed his legs. He leapt out of the way of the blast, and continued on, allowing the magic of his Ring to take him higher. It would give him a moment to recuperate from the counterattack. The destruction of Reign-Beaux and Grei had taken a toll on him anyway.

He didn't get a second extra. Anubis was pointing his hand at him, and had fired three blasts of black flames. Bakura's white hair was thrown back as the attacks sped past either side of his head. With a roar of frustration, he raised both hands above his hands as he began to descend. Golden Shadow magic formed in each hand and a large nexus had formed between the two hands.

He willed himself to fall in Anubis' direction. When he was just about ten feet above his opponent, he threw his hands forward, and fired the massive blast. A grim satisfaction spread through his mind as the evil god's form was completely blocked out by the attack.

He was in no hurry to stop firing. After all, even holding back a single bit of energy would mean certain death.

Suddenly, a large hand reached out of the vortex of golden power. Before Bakura could gasp, it reached out and grabbed his head. The pain was unbelievable. The energy immediately ceased its flow, and his arms dropped uselessly to his sides.

"Hello Bakura," said Anubis grimly.

The goad brought back the Thief King's resolve. With a roar, he lashed out with his fists, hitting painful spots all over his captor's torso. The only response that Anubis gave was tightening his grip on Bakura's attack, which caused all resistance to cease. Not that it didn't hurt: Bakura's anger gave him strength.

"Goodbye Bakura," finished Anubis. He was about to squeeze so hard that the spirit's head would have simply burst, but there was a dry chuckle behind him. He carelessly dropped the thief to the ground, and looked around.

Seto Kaiba's gaunt figure was standing up, about twenty feet from him. There were black circles under his eyes. However, there was a strange smile playing on his lips. It wasn't evil or sadistic, it was just very scary. It wouldn't have been so scary if Kaiba hadn't been holding the Millennium Rod.

Anubis raised an eyebrow. "I see. The Rod craves a master. After Marik has been defeated, it chose the reincarnation of its past owner. Well, Priest Seto, you have no Guardians to back you up this time. The Pharaoh isn't here either. No Gods. No Puzzle. Just you and me. I beat you last time. I'll do it again."

Kaiba's smile didn't fade. He held up the Rod. "I didn't have this last time."

With a roar of bloodlust, Anubis unleashed five blasts of black energy in Seto's direction.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Call it fate. Call it destiny. Call it the will of the gods. Or just call it pure chance that Kyle Gardner and Kevin Hunter had both spotted the dead guards at the entrance to the large hallway on the fifty-eighth floor of the Empire State Building.

Both rushed towards the corpses. They were unable to register the fact that they were looking at each other before a truly brilliant light show in the room attracted their attention.

Seto Kaiba was standing stock straight in the middle of the room, with his head titled backwards slightly. His eyes were completely white, and gold and black auras had sprung up around his motionless form. They were especially present around his head. The two auras were tearing away at each bitterly, like two enraged animals attempting to kill each other.

Kevin didn't even acknowledge Kyle's presence before he sped forward in Kaiba's direction.

"HUNTER, ARE YOU DRUNK?!" roared Kyle. Kevin ignored him, and grabbed Kaiba's shoulders, which was a bit difficult considering the CEO was six foot two and Kevin was only five foot six. "You can't die before I get my revenge," he hissed. There was no answer. He punched Kaiba full across the face. There was a creak as his neck snapped backwards, and a small cut appeared on his chin. But there was no answer.

Kyle had caught up. "What the hell are you doing?" he snarled. Kevin ignored him. He was looking into the whites of Kaiba's eyes, and suddenly, his eyes began to turn white as well. "Hunter, snap out of it!" snarled Kyle.

Kevin didn't seem to hear him. Kyle shook his head, and grunted, "I've been waiting too long for this." With a whoop, he punched Kevin across the face. The dragon duelist was knocked off his feet. But it was too late. His eyes were white as well. Suddenly, Kyle noticed someone standing a few feet away. He recognized him as Ryou Bakura, the one who had been crushed by Yugi Moto in the Battle City quarter finals. His eyes were blank as well.

Suddenly, as Kyle was glancing back at Kaiba, he felt a strong attraction to the auras that were still tearing away at each other around him. Oh well. He wasn't doing a darn thing just standing here anyway. He looked at Kaiba's eyes, and began to feel light-headed.

His body went rigid a moment later.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kyle woke up with a real headache. He was lying on his back on some really hard stone. Whoever made this place really didn't know how to appreciate comforts. He groaned as he got up and rubbed his head. He noticed a still unconscious Kevin Hunter lying a few feet from him.

Still moaning, he got up and walked over to the dragon duelist. The guy had been a real jerk when they last met, and Kyle was tempted to give him a kick in the ribs, but settled for bending over, and shouting, "GET UP!"

Suddenly, he felt a stunning pain across his face, and found himself lying back on the hard stone ground. Kevin was standing up, looking curiously at his hand. "Ya' know… I just had a weird dream that you were bending over me and then I hit you so hard that you were knocked off your feet…"

"You've got a damn vivid imagination," said Kyle through clenched teeth, hauling himself up. They both found themselves looking at a large steel door. "We're not doing anything waiting here," pointed out Kevin. "If you're still desperate to duel, we can do so after we get out of here. Wherever 'here' is."

Kyle was just as confused. "Might as well go in."

Together, the two teenagers pushed the door open. Kevin immediately recognized it. They were in Kaiba's famous Duel Dome: the place where Kaiba had so thoroughly thrashed him when they last dueled. It brought back very bad memories. It was, however, in a bad state. There were flames flickering all over the ground. The top was open, the dark sky seemed to illuminated by golden light that came from a source about a hundred feet away.

Kevin could clearly hear the roars of battle from that source. He looked urgently at Kyle. "Listen, I never believed in this magic stuff at first. But this is bigger then both of us. Wait here, and I'm going ahead to have a look."

Kyle spat his contempt. "You're only a year or two older than me. Don't treat me like a kid. I'm coming, whether you give a damn or not." Kevin shrugged. "Fine."

The two plastered themselves against the wall of the Duel Dome and walked forward. As they continued on, they found the light growing brighter. Roars of anger and exertion were echoing across the Duel Dome.

As the battle came into view, Kevin paled. There were three combatants. One was none other than Seto Kaiba, and he seemed to be wielding the Millennium Rod that Marik Ishtar used to use. He was firing bolts of golden energy at his opponent, a towering, muscular man with blonde hair to his shoulders. Around his neck was an artifact that closely resembled the Puzzle that Yugi Moto wore.

The third one was none other than Ryou Bakura. The artifact around his neck was glowing, and his arms were forming an X-shape across his chest. He was chanting in a strange language.

Anubis was roared in rage, and put his hand forward, with the fingers spaced out. Each finger glowed with black energy, and the energy fired out in the form of five thin blasts at Kaiba. Bakura's eyes widened, and the attacks were somewhat absorbed by an invisible barrier.

Kaiba seemed to notice the new arrivals. "GET OUT OF HERE YOU DOLTS!" he roared. Anubis looked around. "Children?" he hissed. "I found them much more fun to kill than adults." He took a step forward, ignoring the barrage of energy coming from Kaiba's Rod.

"SUMMON YOUR MOST POWERFUL MONSTERS!" shouted Bakura. With a grunt, he forced energy into his right hand, the flaming energy blade appeared once again.

Kyle didn't question him. They looked to their Duel Disks, and pulled out the necessary cards. "Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600), Sorcerer of Dark Magic (3200/2800), Vanguard Magician (2500/0), and last but not least, Asguard Magician (3000/0)!" The famous Chaos magician appeared, accompanied by the powerful sorcerer dressed in black. The golden and black dressed mages appeared with grim looks on their faces.

Kevin hesitated for a second. After all, this guy was supposed to be Marik's partner… But Marik was gone, and all thoughts of revenge were shoved in the dumpster when an insane God of Death was coming to kill you.

"Try this on for size! Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500), Grand Emperor Dragon-Envoy of Revenge (2000/2500), Dragon Demon Lord (2400/1000), and Midnight Moon Dragon (2800/2500)!" The massive orange dragon appeared, flanked by the dragon demon in samurai-like armor and the deadly golden dragon. Floating above them was the white dragon with glowing red eyes.

Anubis was amused. "Eight little weaklings. I shall enjoy crushing them." As he spoke, the Pyramid of Light came to life and fired out a thin blast of energy at a frightened Kyle. "Block it, guys!" he commanded.

The four spellcasters nodded and each one fired out blasts of energy or black flames at the oncoming attack. It seemed almost impossible for them to hold it. "Help them!" roared Kevin to his dragons. The Tyrant Dragon, Grand Emperor Dragon and Midnight Moon Dragon let lose their own fiery attacks. The Dragon Demon Lord slammed its sword into the ground, which began to erupt around them. Anubis raised an eyebrow as the ground beneath him cracked.

Kyle and Kevin were beginning to panic. Suddenly, Anubis' attention was distracted. He turned his head to see Kaiba behind him, with his Millennium Rod glowing. At that second, the eight monsters let lose all their energy, and were able to deflect the blast. Eight attacks sped towards the God of Death. He smirked, as the eight blasts melded into one, powerful attack.

His arm was hanging by his side, and with a grunt he snapped it backwards and then forward. The apocalyptic blast of energy was knocked aside with absurd ease. Kyle and Kevin stood frozen in shock.

Kaiba, on the other hand, smirked. "Now, Bakura." With a chuckle, the Thief King skimmed across the ground, and with a roar, he buried his sword of energy in Anubis' back. His eyes widened in shock as waves of pain shook his body. Bakura leapt back as the his victim continued to grope his back in feeble attempts to pull out the energy that was causing him such unbelievable agony.

"Have a taste of your own medicine, Anubis," hissed Bakura.

A look of pure fury spread across Anubis' face at Bakura's face. He let out a roar of fury, and the sword shattered. "Uh oh," muttered Kevin, taking a step back.

Bakura snarled in anger. "FIRE, YOU IDIOTS!" Kyle and Kevin looked at each other. "ATTACK!" All eight monsters were about to attack, when Anubis stood up. In his anger, he clenched his fist. As if in reaction, all of the teenager's monsters disappeared.

Bakura grimaced, and two more energy swords appeared in his hands. Kaiba sighed, and the Rod glowed. Anubis glared at Kyle and Kevin. "You can run if you want, but his mind is only so big. I will find you."

"HIS MIND?" roared Kyle and Kevin simultaneously. The three combatants ignored the indignant teenagers.

"What you did to me back then really hurt," growled Anubis. Bakura ignored him, and in response sped towards him, his blades flashing. Once again, Anubis continued to block the stabs and slashes with two fingers. Bakura's dance was flawless; he wielded the blades in perfect sync. The barrage seemed endless.

However, Anubis had no problem defending. Bakura didn't seem to tire, but he could only keep up his attack for a few minutes more. Kaiba would have to intervene sooner or later. He raised the Rod.

"Now," he spoke softly, but just so that Bakura could hear him. He smirked, and thrust both swords in the same direction. Anubis' hand was forced back to his chest so that he could block.

At that second, Kaiba leaping over Bakura, wielding the Rod like a dagger. However, it was literally brimming with energy. It would explode in Anubis' face. Hopefully, it would be enough to kill him.

Anubis saw it coming. With a grunt, he grabbed Bakura's neck and threw him into the oncoming CEO. The two were knocked out of the air. Anubis snarled, and leapt into the air. He was soon hovering above the open Duel Dome. He held out both his hands, pointing downwards, with all fingers spread.

An infinite number of black energy blasts rained out of the sky. They targeted no one in particular; the point was to cause destruction. The explosions were catastrophic. More parts of the Dome were beginning to collapse. Anubis kept up the barrage until it now resembled a building hit by a nuclear bomb.

He slowly floated to the ground, and spoke in an eerie voice. "No need to hide from me, Hunter. I will find you eventually. I will find everyone of you and tear you to pieces."

The answer was rather unexpected. It came in the form of a sudden appearance of a large dragon plated in golden armor. The verbal response was, "SOLAR STREAM!" The colossal beast roared and fired a huge blast of golden energy in Anubis' direction. He was rather amused. With a smile, he deflected the energy with a simple flick of his wrist. The dragon was shattered, leaving a rather scared Kevin Hunter standing alone in the darkness.

"I knew you would try something stupid, but not on such magnificent proportions. Well, you provided me with entertainment, so I'll make your death a little less painful." He raised his finger, and a nexus of black fire appeared around it.

He didn't notice a pair of blue eyes in the darkness behind him.

A cold, incisive voice spoke. "Blue Eyes, show him how we do things in my mind." There was a feral roar, and before Anubis could register what was happening, his entire world was completely eclipsed by a column of pure white energy. Within seconds, the being that was a fragment of Anubis' soul was atomized.

The towering dragon gave a feral roar, before disappearing. The sound was followed by the clatter of metal on the ground. Kaiba stared disdainfully at the Millennium Rod.

He looked at Kevin, and smirked. Kyle and Bakura slowly emerged from the darkness. All of them had a few bruises and scratches, but none were very serious. "That idiotic Rod was the only way to defeat him. If I had an ancestor living five thousand years ago, fine. If it's going to help me get that dumbass out of my mind, I'll use it to my advantage. Anyway... It"

Bakura chuckled at the CEO's hasty explanation. "I won't complain. But tell me… How was your Blue Eyes White Dragon so effective against him? Eight other monsters failed."

Kaiba shrugged. "It's possible that it's because we're in _my _mind. I guess that's because of the strong connection between me and my Blue Eyes. Anyway, I'd thank you three to leave. NOW."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm going to be very direct with you, Hunter," said Kaiba. "If you want to carry your idiotic grudge against me, I don't care. But I want to know if you're against us, or with us. Besides Gardner here, you're a much weaker duelist than all the rest of us, so it would be foolish to pick the other side."

Kevin laughed mirthlessly. "Well, considering one of the two main bad guys has tried to kill me, I would automatically turn to the good guys, would I not? Just don't forget, Kaiba. What's between you and me isn't over yet. It's just on hiatus." Kaiba snorted at this.

Bakura shrugged. "Fair point. We'd better get going."

Suddenly, Kaiba groaned. "I feel like someone has thrown a rock at my face." Kevin smirked. "My bad."

**I hope everyone liked the fight scene. It was fun, a break from the usual duels. Hell, the three-way was fifty-six turns at the end!**

**And would you believe it? The story has crossed 200,000 words, 6000 hits, and 400 pages! Damn, I never thought it'd come this far, lol.**

**I do have another poll to conduct. A lot of time has passed since the last time I asked this question. Which is your favorite duel in the story?**

**Anyway, here are the original cards.**

**Bakura: Colorless, Chaos King of the Dark World (the concept belongs to the creators of YGO GX, but I gave it an effect and everything else), Infernal Fusion.**

**Anubis: All his Breakers.**

**Yugi: Gift of the Gods**

**Solomon: Millennium Sword, Millennium Warrior**

**Anyway, REVIEW!**


	36. Unleash the Chaos

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: Unleash the Chaos

**Well, here's the end of the Yugi vs Solomon duel, as well as the continuation of Joey and Zane versus Dartz. A twenty-something page chapter isn't bad, especially during exams.**

**Shadowcat: The Tea thing is very complicated. It's not really her, but it is. You'll have to wait and read on to find out.**

**Mystralwind: Eh… Bakura's ok. I put him in for lack of a better character to find. As for Kaiba, don't say a word. He is my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh character, followed far behind by Yami Marik. Anyway, you seem quite worried out Marik Ishtar. It's very possible that his soul is lost forever… but its also possible it's not. Who knows? Except for me, lol.**

**Princess Yunariana: bows**

Solomon was laughing wildly as the black demon and the white dragon were slowly sucked into a vortex. Lights began to flash all over his field, and a deep roar shook the entire building. As the vortex slowed, a towering form stepped out of it.

"Meet your excecutioner, the last monster you're ever going to face!" shrieked Solomon. The entire monster came into view. It was about the size of a two-storey building. With a body that was more or less the same as that of the Exodia Necross, it had two titanic wings that spread out from its shoulders that were like that of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. And, most horrifyingly, it didn't have a right arm. In its place, the fusion had the long neck of the Blue Eyes White Dragon with its terrifying head in place of a fist (0 500 500/0).

"Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia?" gasped Yugi.

"You catch on quickly, you know that? He's more powerful than anything you've ever faced. He isn't a god, neither is he a demon. He is a demon god, the worst of his kind!"

Yugi's eyes narrowed. "Whatever it is, I'll overcome it!"

Solomon smirked. "Very well. I activate my demon god's first special ability. He starts off with one hundred attack points for the combined levels of every monster in my graveyard at the time he was summoned."

Yugi's eyes widened as he began to count up the total. Solomon had one hundred and sixty levels worth of monsters in his graveyard. Uh oh.

"Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia has sixteen thousand five hundred attack and defense points!" Yugi's eyes bulged. That was far beyond every single one of his monsters, and far beyond _anything_ that had been played in this duel. "You are kidding me, right?"

"Does it look like it? I highly doubt that. His second effect activates. Upon summoning, I can automatically obliterate one monster on your side of the field. I choose your Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning!" The demon god growled throatily and stretched out the head of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. The dragon roared, and fired out a massive stream of pearly white energy at the chaotic soldier.

The Envoy of the Beginning tried to block with its shield, but the attack completely atomized it. "Now, I can either add its attack points to my life-points, _or_ I can special summon it to my side of the field. I choose the second effect."

Yugi frowned as the powerful Chaos monster reappeared next to the towering hybrid monster (3500/2500).

"With twenty thousand attack points worth of monsters, I can completely destroy you. Black Luster Soldier, attack his Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl with Double Chaos Edge!" The monster nodded, and shot off across the field, its sword flashing.

Yugi eyes narrowed. "I activate the quick-play magic card, Rising Protection! When a light or dark monster is destroyed this turn, outside of battle, I can reduce all battle damage to zero and make all my monsters invincible for the turn!"

The Dark Paladin, Dark Magician, and Dark Magician Girl all glowed with energy. With a snarl, the Dark Magician buckled his knees, and raised his hand. The Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning froze, and started back across the field.

"Don't think you've saved yourself," said Solomon maliciously. "Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia is far more powerful than you can think! To keep him on the field, I must sacrifice a light or dark monster to him during my end phase. So say goodbye to your Envoy of the Beginning!"

The demon god reached out and brutally grabbed the chaos soldier in its left hand. With a roar, it crushed it mercilessly. Yugi watched sadly. "And to top it off, he gains five hundred attack and defense points when a monster is sacrificed to him. Unfortunately, he doesn't gain attack points for the levels of the sacrificed monsters. By the way, don't even think of monster removal. He cannot be destroyed by magic, trap or monster effects." Exodia's ultimate form (17000/17000) roared at Yugi. The force of the sound seemed to shake the world.

Yugi drew. "I activate Return of Triplets, which lets me add three cards of the same name from my graveyard back to my hand. I choose Repayment of Losses. Next comes Monster Reincarnation, which I use to bring Slifer the Sky Dragon back to my hand at the cost of discarding a single card. I choose Repayment of Losses."

Solomon chuckled. "So you plan to use your little god to combat mine? We'll see how that battle turns out."

"Next I play Precious Cards from Beyond. Every time I successfully tribute-summon a card that requires two or more tributes, I draw two cards. Let me put that one to use by sacrificing Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, and Dark Paladin to summon Slifer the Sky Dragon (4000/4000)!" He immediately snapped two cards off his deck as his three mages disappeared in flashes of light.

Lightning lanced throughout the elevator shaft. Soon enough, a large red and black snake like body was seen descending from the darkness. Massive red wings were revealed, as were a set of powerful clawed hands. Slowly, the massive head of the red dragon was revealed. Its two jaws were closed, its yellow eyes seemingly glaring at its foes. With a massive roar, the dragon took its place on the field.

Solomon smirked. "So… It's a battle of gods."

"And no one is more skilled in defeating gods than I am," chuckled Yugi.

"Yes… Yugi. You and Slifer are experienced in battling gods. But what happens when you're not facing a god… What happens when your opponent is the devil himself?!" He broke off into insane laughter.

"Bring it on, Yugi! It's a god versus the devil! We'll see whose truly destined to succeed!"

Yugi ignored him. "If Slifer is truly destined to decimate Exodia, he'll have to be stronger. I set both Repayment of Losses, and play Emergency Sustenance! When Emergency Provisions is in my graveyard, I can sacrifice magic or trap cards to gain 1500 life-points per sacrificed card."

He immediately put all three cards in his graveyard, and drew three more. "I now chain Fruits of Greed. When I gain 3000 or more life-points, I draw one card for every thousand life-points I gained. That's three more cards for me." Slifer (5000/5000) was slightly stronger after all this effort.

"I now just set one card facedown and end my turn." Slifer growled slightly as its strength lowered back to four thousand.

(Yugi: 7400, Solomon: 6300)

"Bah!" spat Solomon as he drew. "No matter at all. Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia, destroy his so-called god with Obliteration Lightning and end this duel!" The horrible demon god raised its left hand. Black energy began to form in it, which crackled around the entire shaft.

With a roar, it fired the massive bolt at the weaker divine-beast. Yugi smiled. "A very simple card called Negate Attack happens to be a very good help here." The bolt of energy was absorbed by the swirling vortex.

Solomon snarled, Exodia echoing his rage. "Fine! I summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer (1800 500 2300/1700) in attack mode and immediately sacrifice it!" The demon god's strength grew even more (17500/17500).

Yugi drew, giving Slifer six thousand attack points. "Time to show you the cards that Pegasus gave me! This is the power of heaven at its maximum. I summon Guardian of Slifer (1500/1500)!" A man in a garb appeared. He was tanned, and looked Egyptian. The garb was white, and he looked up and glared at the demon god with strange, glowing, silver eyes, before bowing to Slifer.

"You see, Priest of Slifer can be special summoned from my hand when Slifer is on the field. He has three hundred attack and defense points for every card. And what's more, I get to add another Guardian of Slifer to my hand." (6000/6000) (1800/1800)

"So what's that thing going to do?" sneered Solomon. "Give Exodia a snack before he dines on Slifer?"

Yugi glared at him, and suddenly, he seemed to stagger a bit. Solomon burst out laughing. "I knew it! You can't even deal with such a long duel! It seems your body is finally catching up to you."

There was a flash of light and the imposing figure of Yami stood there.

"He'll be taking a little break. Until then, let me show you the power of Slifer! I now play Debt Repaid. For every Repayment of Losses in my graveyard, I get to draw one card! Since I have three, I draw three cards, giving Slifer eight thousand attack points." "Not enough," laughed Solomon.

Yami ignored him. "Next I summon my second Guardian of Slifer (2100/2100)!" Another garbed man appeared.

"Finally, I activate Soul Rope, paying one thousand life-points to special summon a level four monster from my deck. I choose the final Guardian of Slifer (1800/1800), this one in defense mode!"

Solomon laughed out loud as the final garbed man appeared. "What use are these weak creatures? Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia can crush them without giving it a second thought!"

Yami chuckled. "Well, my Guardians have a special ability. When all three of them are on the field, I can play Sacrifice for a God, to activate every single magic card in my graveyard that allows me draw. There's Debt Repaid, three Repayment of Losses, Graceful Charity, and Pot of Greed, not to mention Card of Sanctity."

Slifer (15000/15000), and the three Guardians (4500/4500) were each insanely powerful. "Next comes Infinite Cards, which lets me keep as many cards in my hand as I choose. Finally, I set one card facedown and end my turn." (13000/13000) (3900/3900)3

Solomon kept himself calm as steam spread through the field while Slifer growled, showing off its strength. "My regular deck has always served me well, but I'm going to need more if I'm going to fight both Anubis and Dartz."

Solomon shook his head and drew. Card of Sanctity worked for him as well, and he now had seven cards in his hand.

"Here goes! I summon Super Vorse Raider (1900 500 2400/1200)!" The monster that appeared looked just like his normal Vorse Raider, only in armor that seemed to be of a more futuristic brand in place of the thin fabric garments of the first monster.

He held up another card. "Next I play Quick Summon, which will give me another normal summon this turn. I sacrifice Super Vorse Raider to summon my Dark Ruler Ha Des (2450 500 2950/1600)!" The blue-skinned demon who ruled over the Underworld replaced the beast-warrior.

"Next I remove from play Queen's Knight and Super Vorse Raider to special summon Chaos Sorcerer (2300 500 2800/2000)!"

Slowly materializing onto the field was a creature with purple skin, two large ivory white horns on the side of his head, and yellow eyes. On his chest were a few straps that crisscrossed his body. His shoulders were covered by a set of shoulder pads made up of leather. He had armbands that went from his elbow to his wrists that were black as well, and finally wore a pair of black leather pants and a battle skirt as well.

"Remove his first Guardian of Slifer from play, with Orb of Darkest Light!" With a smirk, the Chaos Sorcerer fired a ball of black energy at the garbed man. He bowed to Slifer and accepted the attack gracefully as he was destroyed.

Yami frowned, and then smiled. "When a Guardian of Slifer is destroyed, I draw a card for every other Guardian of Slifer on my field." (15000/15000) (4500/4500)2.

"I can still completely destroy your god with mine! Obliteration Lightning!" Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia raised its left hand once more, and fired a blast of black lightning at the dragon god. "I don't think so. I activate my facedown Shift, to redirect your attack to the Guardian of Slifer that is in defense mode."

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and the black lightning suddenly switched its target to the other garbed man. It was shattered immediately. He picked another card off his deck. (16000/16000) (4800/4800)

Solomon was starting to grow uneasy. "Since my Chaos Sorcerer is a sitting target for your god, I'll sacrifice him to Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia, and remove that risk. I activate another effect. By sacrificing a demon on my field, I gain life-points equal to its attack points." (18000/18000)

Yami didn't seem worried.

"End turn."

(Yami: 7400, Solomon: 9250)

Yami drew, and gave his deck a worried glance. He had been drawing like a madman ever since Slifer had got on the field, and it didn't help things. There was a total of forty-five cards in his deck, which meant he barely had nine or ten left. He'd have to end this fast if he didn't deck himself out. Besides, this duel was getting irritatingly long.

As he looked over his hand, he grinned. "It's over."

"What do you mean?" growled Solomon. "I activate Guardian of Slifer's special ability. By sacrificing him and removing him from play, I can draw one card for every Guardian of Slifer in my graveyard, at the cost of one thousand life-points."

Solomon yelled in shock. "IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Sorry, but it's actually just happened. Slifer (19000/19000), attack with Thunder Force!" Letting out a mighty roar, the dragon opened its jaws wide. Golden energy began to form within the dragon's bottom jaw. With little warning, the dragon released a stream of the golden energy straight at the fusion monster, who growled, and swung his left fist at the oncoming blast.

A force-field seemed to form around Exodia. He continued to try and push back the Thunder Force, but it didn't work. Slifer finally let out a roar that put all others to shame, and its blast shattered the barrier, and struck the Legendary Dragon Lord – Exodia.

The demon god let out a howl of agony as the blast burned off both his arms first. Soon, his legs followed. Last of all, his torso was blasted into non-existence.

Slifer ceased its attack, and roared its strength.

Solomon had been hit hard by the attack. The power of the struggle had knocked him off his feet, throwing him across the elevator, until he was lying by the edge. "No!" yelled Yugi, and Yami almost took an involuntary step forward.

The old man was back on his feet immediately, his eyes glowing with rage. He was holding up a card. "I activate the quick-play Deal With a Dark Ruler! When a level eight or higher monster is destroyed, I can special summon my Berserk Dragon (3500 500 4000/0) in attack mode!"

A large brown, nearly black dragon that had silver flowing hair, red glowing eyes, a long tail, powerful legs and arms then appeared. It let out a loud roar, showing its ferocity. The symbol of the Orichalcos glowed on its forehead. Immediately, the mighty god roared and fired a blast of energy at the zombie.

When the blast cleared, its wings were tattered, and it had cuts and bruises all over its body (2000/0). "End turn."

(Yami: 7400, Solomon: 8250)

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Yami gave him an odd look. "You're leaving your dragon in attack mode?" He shrugged.

Yami drew (Slifer: 20000/20000). He knew that with twenty cards in his hand, he could end the duel twice over now.

"Slifer, attack his Berserk Dragon with Thunder Force!" The mighty dragon roared and fired a titanic blast at the zombie-like creature.

Solomon laughed scornfully. "You think I'd leave my dragon unprotected? Activate Zombie Madness. When a zombie monster is attacked, I can negate the attack, and draw cards from my deck equal to half the level of the attacking monster." He picked up cards from his deck until he held a grand total of seven.

Yugi sighed. "End turn."

Solomon drew, and began laughing like an idiot. "Time for your so-called god to be obliterated. I play the powerful magic card, Shrink, which will cut your god's attack points in half until the turn ends." The colossal god growled as its strength was lowered (10000/20000).

"Ten thousand is still too much for you to handle."

"Is that so? I activate the powerful magic card, Dimensional Death! By discarding any number of cards and removing them from play, I can boost the attack points of any one monster on the field by two thousand per card. I discard six cards, one of them Repayment of Losses, to make my Berserk Dragon far stronger than your god card." (12000/0)

"No!" gasped Yami. "Obliterate his monster with Roar of Death!" The horrible creature fired out a blast of unholy black fire at the god, who roared in shock, before countering with its own Thunder Force. It was no use. The fire plummeted towards the mighty god.

"Luckily for you, Berserk Dragon will die at the end of the turn, and you lose no life-points. But with your god down, nothing will stop what I'm about to play." Yami narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"I play my ultimate continuous spell card, Unleash the Chaos!" The entire field seemed to warp. Yami could see the darkness being laced with strands of light. Specters, souls of the dead, began to float around them. Roars came from the bottom of the elevator shaft, and Yami gulped as a huge, slimy…. _thing_ rose up from the depths before falling back down. Fire seemed to blaze occasionally. The Seal of the Orichalcos seemed to react well to the chaos.

"I must sacrifice level eight or higher light or dark monster to activate this, when I have three monsters in my graveyard with the words 'Chaos' or 'Envoy' in them. I must also pay half my life-points." He growled, and fell to his knees with a grunt as his life-points drastically fell.

"However…. It's well worth it. Every monster in my graveyard and removed from play pile with the words 'Chaos' or 'Envoy' in them are immediately special summoned to the field, regardless of summoning costs." Yugi gasped even as he said these words. Black flames erupted all over his field, and the howls of archaic creatures were heard as magic began to pull them back into the living from the depths.

"Meet your end Pharaoh! You've survived every one of my powerful monsters individually, but as a force, they will obliterate you completely. Meet Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy the End (3000 500 3500/2500), Black Luster Soldier-Envoy the Beginning (3000 500 3500/2500), Chaos Sorcerer (2300 500 2800/2000), Chaos Gilford-Lord of Lightning (3600 500 4100/2800), Envoy of the Black Luster Soldier (1500 500 2000/1900), and finally, Black Luster Lord-Master of Chaos (4000 500 4500/4000)!!!"

Roaring onto the field was a massive black dragon with an orange mane, massive wings, powerful clawed hands and feet, and sharp teeth. Glaring at the Yami, the dragon let out another mighty roar.

Next up was a warrior in black ebony shiny armor with a mixture of gold trim, a black helmet, with a bronze colored sword in his right hand and a powerful black and gold shield in his left let out a small battle cry. Then came the purple-skinned mage, its legs spread out in a battle-stance.

Following the Chaos Sorcerer was the mighty warrior riding on the Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End. He gave a battle-cry upon seeing Yami. Finally, was the horrible fusion of the three Black Luster Soldiers that had caused Yami and Yugi so much trouble.

"Between the two of us, there are thirty-seven light and dark monsters in the graveyard between the two of us, which means my Black Luster Lord has twenty-four thousand attack points!" "No…." whispered Yami.

"YES! My army is stronger than even the gods. Even the Winged Dragon of Ra can't save you now." This made him grimace. Actually, Ra would have been perfect for this situation. Its Egyptian God Phoenix ability would have been especially useful against Black Luster Lord, whose immunities would not deny a tier three god card.

But right now it was with Tea, who was attempting to use it against Anubis. He had to do it without his gods anyway, as he was more or less out of revival cards.

"What's more, Chaos Gilford special summons four Chaos Avenger Tokens, at the cost of removing from play Queen's Knight, Berserk Dragon, Millennium Shield and Millennium Sword." The four monsters appeared, and were soon transformed into the horrible demons that had caused Yugi a whole lot of trouble (2300 500 2800/2000)4.

"End turn. When I have my battle-phase, I can tear you apart!"

Yami drew, and smiled. "Well, I have an advantage that even fifty-one thousand attack points worth of monsters cannot overpower. You have no cards besides your Chaos monsters, while I have a grand total of twenty-one." Solomon shrugged. "Use one or two monster removal cards. The remaining Chaos monsters have it in them to destroy you completely."

"I happen to have a card to destroy _them_ completely. I play Snatch Steal, to take your Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500) to my side of the field." Solomon snorted. "Foolish. It can't do anything to any of my monsters besides the Chaos Avenger Tokens and Chaos Sorcerer."

A man with a burlap sack dropped onto Solomon's field, and threw his sack over the Chaos monster. Slowly, it was dragged to Yami's field. He continued to smirk. "Next I play Cost Down. I discard one card from my hand to reduce the levels of all monsters in my hand by two." He dropped the two cards into his graveyard slot. His hand briefly shown.

"Bah! It'll let you summon a weak beast that is no match for my army!"

Yugi narrowed his eyes. "Watch me. I sacrifice Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning, to summon my Chaos monster. Meet the Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600!"

The armored warrior disappeared in a flash of light only to reveal a pentagon of flames. Slowly rising from it, a mage with blue skin, black tight fitting armor, with a strange mage's hat, and a long black staff. The mage had his eyes closed while rising up, but once fully on the field; he opened his eyes, revealing yellow corneas with red irises. Upon opening his eyes, the flames of the pentagon diminished immediately.

"How pathetic," snickered Solomon.

Yami laughed. "Foolish of you to say that. The Dark Magician of Chaos possesses a vista of abilities that give him the potential to be the most powerful of the Chaos monsters, although he's still overshadowed by Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End, and Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning. But let it be revealed, now! I activate his effect, which lets me add a spell card from my graveyard to my hand."

He sifted through the massive pile of nearly forty cards. "Here's the one I want: Monster Reborn." Solomon shrugged as the King of Games added the magic card to his hand.

"Next I play the card to doom you! In the name of the ultimate power of Atlantis, I play the Eye of Timeaus!"

A large, green dragon appeared. It was perhaps twenty feet long, and it flapped its massive wings as it glared at Solomon and his army. They were all shocked by its appearance. "The Legendary Dragon…." gasped the old man.

Yami ignored him. "Timeaus, fuse with my Dark Magician of Chaos!" he ordered.

The two monsters were pulled each hit by columns of blinding fire. Solomon was blinded, and he put up his hand in shock. Yami, however, felt warm and protected. He was going to end it now.

The two columns of fire converged, and the new one widened. It began to disappear, revealing a new creature.

Timeaus had changed. Its skin was still green, but it wore black armor now. Its upper jaw, limbs, and torso were all covered with it, with interlocking pieces also present over the horns on its tail. Its wings were left free though. Standing proudly on its back with its staff on its back was the Dark Magician of Chaos. He too, was armored, and his body was rather more muscular. He glared at the army of Solomon's field.

"You now face Shadow Nexus Dragon-Lord of Dark Magic (3600/2900)!"

Solomon stared at it for a few minutes, before he burst out laughing. "That…. _thing_ is going to defeat me? Thirty-six hundred attack points? You've got to be joking!"

Yami glared at him. "And he's not alone. I now activate Monster Reborn, to revive none other than Slifer the Sky Dragon (16000/16000)!" "No!!!!" gasped Solomon, realizing that sixteen thousand attack points was enough to wipe out anyone of his weaker monsters as well as his life-points. The sinuous god reappeared.

"I will not lose such a close duel!!!" Yami's eyes reflected what his heart was like. Ice.

"Close? Just wait. I activate the first of my Shadow Nexus Dragon's special ability. I can sacrifice a light or a dark monster to him to boost his attack points by that monsters attack points still the end of my turn."

The god disappeared, and the Legendary Dragon glowed, as did its steed (19600/2900). Solomon was really beginning to panic.

"Next I activate Shadow Nexus Dragon's second and final ability. By discarding a card from my hand, I can add one magic cards of one type, either normal, quick-play, continuous, or field, from my graveyard to my hand. I discard Sinister Serpent (300/250) I play Monster Reborn again, to revive Slifer once more." Just as the divine creature appeared, Yami sacrificed it to the Shadow Nexus Dragon.

"As you're aware, Sinister Serpent will keep returning to my hand," said the King of Games coldly. "I discard it again, to revive Slifer and sacrifice him to the Shadow Nexus Dragon…. And again…and again…and again."

Shadow Nexus Dragon-Lord of Dark Magic (∞/2900) glared down at the group of monsters on Solomon's field. They all backed away in terror. Even the Black Luster Lord couldn't scratch this entity. "Now I equip him with Diffusion Wave Motion! Since it's a level ten spellcaster, I can pay 1000 life-points to attack all your monsters."

The Dark Magician of Chaos' staff began to glow. Suddenly, Yugi screamed out in his mind. "_No! There has to be another way!"_

Yami shook his head sadly. "_I wish there was Yugi. He's been as much a grandfather to me as he's been to you. We need to defeat him so that we can go on and challenge Dartz and Anubis. Once the Orichalcos is overthrown, we can get his soul back._"

Yugi didn't answer; he had fallen to his knees in shock. "SHADOW NEXUS DRAGON, ATTACK WITH INFINITE MAGIC ATTACK!"

Letting out a massive roar, the black armored dragon opened its jaws and began to build up purple energy in its mouth. Meanwhile, on the dragons back, the magician's staff began glowing with black energy. Simultaneously, the dragon shot out a stream of purple energy while the magician fired out its powerful black fire. The two streams soon twisted together and merged into a spinning blast of transparent energy that reflected a thousand faucets of light and color.

The attack spread across the field, and hit each and every one on Solomon's field. Each one began to roar in pain, and began to evaporate into smoke. Soon, they were all shattered, before the attack continued on and hit Solomon. The man was a powerful duelist, but was rather diminutive when it came to physical size and strength. It threw him fully across the elevator, and he hit the end of the Seal of Orichalcos, throwing him off his feet.

Slowly, the Seal began to retract around the old man. Yami bit his lip, but knew he couldn't enter the Seal. Yugi was crying by now. The old man reached out, and suddenly, his eyes reflected the nature of the normal Solomon Moto. He was holding up his deck with his remaining energy and threw it to Yami. It was able to penetrate the wall of the Seal, and Yami was just about to catch it. A sad smile spread across his face, before he collapsed.

There was silence in the shaft. Slowly, he slipped the deck in his pocket, and focused his magic on his hikari's grandfather. Soon, the body floated over the distance between the elevators. He hefted him onto his shoulders, and climbed out of the shaft.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was Zane's turn. "I play Cyberdark Keel (800/800)!" Materializing onto the field was a black metallic snake like dragon with wires hanging off of it's body. It let out a small screech, showing it's readiness for battle.

"Here goes Painful Choice! I pick five cards from my deck, and I can show them to you. The one you select goes to my hand: the others find their way to the graveyard." He held out the necessary cards. They were Infernal Dragon (2000/0), Cave Dragon (2000/100), Power Bond, Felgrand Dragon (2800/2800), and Cyberdark Horn (800/800).

Dartz shrugged. "Keep your weak Cyberdark Horn. Even if it is powerful, there's no way it can harm me."

"We'll see," muttered Zane, sending the other four cards to his graveyard. "Next comes Cyberdark Keel's ability. I can equip Infernal Dragon to it from my graveyard, and boost its attack points by that of Infernal Dragon!"

A tower of flames shot up from the ground without warning, and slowly from it, a dragon with black skin and a white under belly materialized onto the field. It had sharp clawed feet and hands, with a strong tail that had a sharp pitchfork like end, large blade like spikes sticking out from its knees and backside, mighty wings with black on the outside and red on the inside, and an iguana like hood on its face. Once letting out a roar, the dragon was suddenly struck by wires from the mechanical dragon behind it. The wires tightly wrapped around the black dragon, dragging it screeching to the mechanical dragon's body. Finally secured, the wires lit up around the dragon, making it roar out in pain and begin glowing black. The black aura soon traveled up to the mechanical dragon, which seemed to growl with appreciation (2800/800).

"That is impressive," said Dartz, raising his eyebrows.

"Annihilate that Orichalcos Nine-Tailed Fox with Crushing Darkness!" The machine fired off a blast of black energy at the fox from its jaws.

Dartz chuckled. "Here goes. I activate the Nine-Tailed Fox's special ability. By removing one of the nine counters it possesses, I can prevent your attacks from targeting any monster on my field." Zane grimaced as one of the massive fox's tails disappeared, and the attack of his Cyberdark Keel was absorbed into nothingness.

"Fine. I'll activate Cyberdark Edge's special ability. By halving his attack points, I can attack your directly. Sonic Screech!"

Opening its jaws, the metallic bug released a set of green sound waves straight for Dartz. The sound waves hit Dartz hard, making him slide backwards, kicking up a dust trail as he moved. Even as its lost its momentum, he simply stood there with an eerie smile on his face. "Quite a move, Mr. Truesdale. Please, continue!"

"I end my turn."

(Dartz: 6400, Joey: 8000, Zane: 8000)

Dartz drew, giving him five cards. "Let the destruction commence! I summon Orichalcos Undead General (800 500 1300/1000)." A horrible warrior dressed in green armor appeared. Its flesh was rotting, and its eyes were blank. It held a sword in one hand.

"He boosts the attack points of all Orichalcos monsters by 400 as long as the Seal is on the field." The Undead General (1300 400 1700/1000) glowed as its power was boosted a bit by its own effect. The Nine-Tailed Fox (2500 400 2900/2000) screeched as it grew stronger as well.

Joey snorted. "Out of all our monsters, it can only take out my Jinzo and the Cyberdark Keel. Your counters won't last forever. We'll destroy you sooner or later!"

Dartz gave him a pleasant smile. "I activate her ability, switching her battle-position, which will allow me to remove two counters to remove one of your monsters from play. I choose that annoyance of a Jinzo, so that my trap cards will leave you very vulnerable."

Joey growled as the fox crouched low, and two of its tails disappeared. It fired a blast of white fire at the Jinzo. The green robot was destroyed by the attack.

"I end my turn."

Joey drew. "Here goes Fusion Recovery! I add Red Eyes Black Dragon and Polymerization back to my hand. I now play Polymerization to fuse Red Eyes with Meteor Dragon (1800/2000), to summon a monster with more base attack points than anything in my deck. I'd like to introduce you to Meteor Black Dragon (3500/3000)!"

The silhouettes of a rocky, large, orange dragon, and the Red Eyes, appeared and swirled together to form a powerful new beast. It was bipedal, and stood on two muscular legs. It's wings and most of its body was purple, and its torso was orange. Razor sharp, emerald claws supplemented its deadly arsenal

"Another powerful monster, but rather useless. My Nine-Tailed Fox still has six counters. Next turn, I can switch its battle position and continue clearing your field."

Joey grinned. "Keep talking. I play Sorrows of Joy! I get to draw cards equal to half your hand by paying half my life-points. Here goes." He picked two more cards off his deck. "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600)!"

A knight clad in decorated iron armor appeared, armed with iron shields, with their bottom ends extending out from above his wrist. "Now, I'll both my dragons attack your Nine-Tailed Fox!" The fiendish dragon roared, and with a flap of its wings, began to charge up fire in its mouth. The stronger dragon followed its example, and the two simultaneously attacked the Nine-Tailed Fox.

"I'll sacrifice two more counters to negate both attacks." Both the towers of flames were absorbed.

"Gearfried, slice and dice his weirdo general!" The metal warrior rushed forward, and its red eyes glinted as it attempted to slice the zombie general in half.

Dartz sighed, and another tail disappeared. Gearfried was knocked back across the field.

"I end my turn!"

Zane drew. "Here comes my third Cyberdark! Meet Cyberdark Horn (800/800)!" Another metallic bug like creature with many sharp spiky wings, a series of spikes, four pronged spiked arms, a sharp tail, and a strange set of jaws with a three purple spots on its head appeared with a primitive roar.

"Next I equip Cave Dragon to it from my graveyard!" A large green dragon appeared on the field. Reaching out with wires, the strange bug like creature grabbed hold of the dragon, making it roar in pain. The wires soon pulled the dragon into the creature's clutches, where it placed it's four pronged spiked arms around the dragon (800 2000 2800/800).

"I now have a powerful army of all three Cyberdark monsters on the field. Now, its time to destroy the remaining counters. I'll have all three Cyberdarks attack your Orichalcos Undead General!" Simultaneously, the three machines of torture fired out black flames and green sound waves at the general. The fox's last three tails disappeared, leaving it looking rather odd without any. The three attacks were immediately absorbed.

"Soon… Dartz. Soon I'll introduce you to my army of machines! But for now, it's time to end my turn." Dartz drew. "Tell me…. Mr. Truesdale. Can your machine army take on my Orichalcos army? Here goes Orichalcos Starlight Summon! By sacrificing one level eight or higher monster, I can special summon five Orichalcos Soldier tokens (1000 500 400 1900/1000) to the field!"

The fox disappeared, and was replaced by five new monsters. Each one was large, hulking, and gray in color. They each carried a sword, but didn't know like they knew how to use them. "None of them can attack, and can't be used as sacrifices. Although, I can still play this! Go Polymerization, to fuse the five tokens into Orichalcos Shadow King (2500 400 500 3300/2000)!"

The five warriors were pulled into a vortex, and they each gave groans. Soon, a new creature emerged from within the vortex. It was tall, regal figure, dressed in black armor. Red eyes shown from underneath its helmet, and it carried a huge sword in one hand. As it came onto the field, it was surrounded by a circle of flames. It clenched its fist, and the flames disappeared.

"Shadow King boosts all Orichalcos monsters by a further five hundred attack points as long as the Seal is on the field, which means all monsters now gain an extra fourteen hundred attack points. (2200/1000) (3800/2000).

The duo of sensational duelists grimaced. The Orichalcos Shadow King surpassed any of their monsters. "Now, do me a favor and attack that annoying Cyberdark Edge! Strike of Dark Justice!" The huge monster's eyes glowed even more, and it raised to a ninety-degree angle in one, swift flick.

A scythe of light was flying towards the mechanical terror. It was hit by the wave of light completely in the middle, and was sliced in half. It gave a roar of pain, but suddenly, the Rare Metal Dragon exploded. "According to the effect of my Cyberdark Edge, I can destroy the equipped monster instead of Cyberdark Edge itself." (800/800)

"Very well. Undead General, annihilate his weak monster." The monster screeched, and a spear appeared in its hand. With a snap of its arm, it sent the spear towards the weakened machine. It hit it directly in the head, and it exploded.

"I end my turn," chuckled Dartz.

(Dartz: 6400, Joey: 8000, Zane: 6000)

It was back to Joey. He shivered. Thirty-eight hundred attack points was amazing; stronger than any of his monsters. But still, he would have to find a way around it.

He drew, and a grin spread across his face.

"Here goes, Pot of Greed!" He picked up two more cards. "Oh yeah! I play Release Restraint, sacrificing Gearfried the Iron Knight to special summon this bad boy, Gearfried the Swordmaster (2600/2200)!"

Then Gearfried's armor suddenly exploded in a flash of light, and in his place was a huge muscled barbarian warrior with long, flowing black hair! He had no shirt on, but he carried a blade that shone with light. He let out a battle cry and held his blade in front of him.

Joey looked at it with pride, while Dartz yawned. "Is his hairy chest supposed to put me off, or something like that?"

Joey smirked. "Nope. His sword is going to do that. I equip him with United We Stand, boosting his attack points by twenty-four hundred!" The warrior received streams of energy from the two dragons as his attack points began to rise to five thousand.

"When he has an equip card on him, Gearfried can destroy one monster on the field. I choose your Orichalcos Shadow King! Go get em', Gearfried!"

Gearfried roared with pride, and then swung his blade, causing a huge wave of light energy to cascade towards the tall monarch. The wave of energy hit the demonic creature, and cut its upper half off! The two halves of the destroyed monster then exploded with so much force it almost knocked the two duelists off their feet.

Dartz whistled as his Orichalcos Undead General's attack points fell to seventeen hundred. "Now, Black Skull Dragon! Destroy his little zombie." The fiendish beast grunted in anticipation, and let lose a black sphere of energy in the direction of the comparatively small general.

It was vaporized by the attack, leaving Dartz wide open.

"Now, Gearfried! End this duel with Juggernaut Sword!" The barbaric warrior hefted up its sword, and took off towards Dartz, skimming low across the ground. Just before it was upon him, it swung its sword.

"It's over Dartz! We've won!" Suddenly, there was a metallic clang as the sword hit something that none of them were able to see. "What the-…" gasped Joey.

"A little quick-play card I like to call Orichalcos Eternal Emperor, which reduces all direct damage done to me this turn to zero." Joey growled. Their one golden chance to destroy Dartz had slipped through their fingers.

"I won't lose, damn it!" Joey clenched his fists so tightly that his nails almost drew blood. Heaving a sigh of frustration, he ended his turn.

(Dartz: 4700, Joey: 8000, Zane: 6000)

"Don't worry," smirked Zane. "He's still wide open, and I've got two monsters with more than enough attack points to take him out."

Dartz laughed. "Give me your best shot." Zane shook his head. This duel was already in the bag. There were very few quick-play spell cards in the game that could reduce damage to zero, and the odds of Dartz having one of them in his hand was ever so slim.

"Cyberdark Keel, attack with Crushing Darkness!" Dartz chuckled, and raised another card in his hand, much to Zane's chargin.

"Revival Shield lets me negate one attack, boost my life-points by the monster's attack points, and draw two cards." Zane snarled in rage as a golden shield appeared in front of the blast of black energy. It was deflected somewhere into the room as Dartz's life-points rose to 7500.

"Very well! Cyberdark Horn, undo that gain!" Dartz made no attempt to stop the black flames from the machine's maw that licked his robes.

"I end."

Dartz drew lazily. "Ah yes. I play Forced Burial. I can choose to send five cards in my deck to the graveyard in exchange for drawing three cards." Zane grimaced as Dartz fanned out his full hand of six cards. "oh, how nice. I play Orichalcos Dark Soldier (1200 500 1700/1000)!"

A huge demon appeared. It had dull green skin, and was clad in heavy gray armor. It bared its teeth, and saliva dripped from its mouth. It raised its colossal fists and snarled at its masters opponents, who didn't seem to worried, as it was far weaker than their monsters. Then again, strength wasn't everything. Especially with fellows like Dartz.

"I play Crystal Balance! If I have a dark monster on my field, I can special summon a light monster from my deck that has the same level. I introduce Orichalcos Light Soldier (1000 500 1500/1500)!" A monster similar to the one already on the field appeared. Instead of gray armor, it wore white armor, but its eyes glistened with evil and hatred. "Finally, I activate the magic card, Orichalcos Yin Yang!"

The yin yang symbol, Taijitu, appeared above the two demons. "I can now sacrifice these two monsters to the effect of Orichalcos Yin Yang to summon one of the more powerful Orichalcos monsters: meet Orichalcos Chaos Soldier (3200 500 3700/3200)!"

The two soldiers shrieked and were sucked into a purple vortex. A new, horrible beast stepped out of the portal. It was about fifteen feet tall, and slightly resembled Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning, except the Soldier didn't look so deplorable. It was dressed in black and white armor, and carried a long, jagged sword in one hand, which was dripping blood. It didn't bother with a shield, and instead carried a twisted sword. Its features were beyond gruesome.

"Yes, I used this card against Marik Ishtar. He very nearly was destroyed by it. Now, he gains six hundred attack points for every Orichalcos Soldier in my graveyard and removed from play pile, light or dark. He's already at seventy-three hundred."

Joey winced. This was really going to hurt. "Next comes Oracle of Resurrection! I can special summon on level six or higher Orichalcos monster on the field. Meet Orichalcos Shadow King (3400/2000) once again!" The deadly king reappeared and glared down at Joey and Zane.

"When Orichalcos Shadow King is special summoned, I can special summon one Orichalcos monster in my graveyard with a thousand or less attack points. I choose the Orichalcos Undead General." The zombie-like beast reappeared.

"Uh oh." "Now, my three creatures were far more powerful than you could ever imagine!" (3800/2000) (2200/1000) (8200/3200)

"Unfortunately, I can't attack if I use Oracle of Resurrection this turn. However, I can remove Oracle of Resurrection from play to destroy your United We Stand, Mr. Wheeler. I also set one card facedown before ending my turn."

Joey drew, and sweat rolled down his forehead. The two of them knew truly how outclassed they were at this point. Hell, this was the power than had defeated Seto Kaiba and Marik Ishtar, who were both ranked in the top five in the world.

Joey himself was considered by many to be number three after Yugi and Kaiba, while Zane had won so many Regional Tournaments while he was known as the Hell Kaiser, than he had lost count. But Dartz had bored through flippin' dark gods when dueling Marik.

He drew. He was completely out of equip cards at the moment, so using Gearfried's ability to destroy Orichalcos Chaos Soldier was out of the question. "I set one card facedown and switch all three monsters to defense mode and end my turn."

Zane drew. "I'm going to strike back right here and now. I play Premature Burial, paying eight hundred life-points to bring back Cyberdark Edge (800/800)!"

Reappearing onto the field once more was the powerful dark metal machine creature with massive wings.

"I won't bother equipping it, because I'm playing Polymerization to summon one of my strongest machines! Allow me to introduce you to the ultimate strength of Cyberdark Dragon (1000/1000)!!!"

Reappearing onto the field in that instant, the large dark metal machine dragon, made up of the three separate machine creatures, roared loudly into view.

"One thousand? Is this some kind of joke?" "No… I never joke. First, he gains 100 attack points for every monster in my graveyard. I count eight." (1800/1000)

"Not even close to my Undead General, let alone Shadow King or Chaos Soldier," smirked Dartz. "I activate his second ability, allowing me to equip a dragon to him from my graveyard. My choice is Felgrand Dragon (2800/2800)!"

A huge golden dragon appeared. Its wings spread out, making it look all the more majestic. It roared at Dartz's monsters. The Undead General seemed put off, but the other two ignored it. Slowly, the Cyberdark Dragon's wires spread out and wrapped around the dragon, integrating it into its own being. The dragon groaned softly before it succumbed to the power of its captor (4500/1000).

"Attack his Orichalcos Shadow King with Darkness Strident Blaze!"

Roaring loudly once more, the machine dragon released a stream of dark black energy straight at Dartz's monster. "I activate my facedown Warrior's Demise! I can negate one attack in battle. Also, I must send cards from the top of all our decks equal to the level of the attacking monster. Your beast is a level eight, unless I'm very much mistaken."

Zane smirked as he picked up the top eight cards from his deck. "Foolish. Five of these were monsters, meaning my Cyberdark Dragon's strength increases even more." (5000/1000) "What's more, I chain Cyber Greed. Every time cards are sent from my deck to the graveyard, I draw two cards." He smirked at the fact he had gained more options.

"Now I just play one card facedown and end my turn." Zane gave a meager smile, relaxing in the fact that he had a very powerful monster in play.

Dartz gave him a pleasant smile as he drew . "Very well. Chaos Soldier, obliterate his Cyberdark Dragon with Chaos Blade!" The horrible soldier raised its huge sword, and screeched. It tore off across the field, its blade glowing.

"Here goes Power Wall! I can send cards from my deck to the graveyard to reduce the battle damage by a hundred points for every card. So I'll toss twenty cards to reduce the damage to a meager eleven hundred life-points."

Suddenly, a golden barrier sprung up around Zane's field. The Chaos Soldier roared, and was able to break through it. With a slash, it attacked the black, metal dragon. "Sorry, but you seem to forget that monsters were sent to the graveyard as well. Seventeen of the twenty chosen were monsters, meaning Cyberdark Dragon gains even more attack points." (6700/1000)

"It's not enough to block my Chaos Soldier!" The warrior slashed down, and suddenly, the Felgrand Dragon exploded.

"Cyberdark Dragon lets me destroy the equipped monster instead of being destroyed himself. As I'm sure you've noticed, the difference between our monster's attack points was reduced to fifteen hundred when I send those monsters to the graveyard. Therefore, the damage was reduced to zero automatically."

Dartz shrugged. "Your monster, is however, drastically weakened." (3900/1000)

"Also, you have twenty-nine monsters in the graveyard. Which means you can't have very many creatures left to fight me, can you now?" Zane chuckled. "Don't worry about me. Just make your move."

"Very well. Since your dragon is still too strong for my Shadow King, I'll have it attack Wheeler's Gearfried the Swordmaster instead. After all, I wouldn't want you pulling some equip card and destroying my Chaos Soldier, now would I?"

Joey grimaced as the deadly monster dropped its blade, letting a blade of light tear through his swordsman. "Damn…"

"I end my turn with one facedown card. Play carefully, boys."

A vein began to throb in Joey's head, and his left eye began twitching upon hearing the word 'boys'. "WHO YOU CALLING A BOY!" he roared.

Dartz raised an eyebrow. "Was there a reason for that, or shall I notch it up to juvenile delinquency?" Joey looked ready to explode. "Just because you're damned ten thousand years old makes ya' think everyone is so damn' young… I'm gonna show you young!"

He drew dramatically, only to sigh in frustration. The card wasn't of much help to him. "Damn… I set a card and end my turn."

It was back to Zane. Upon drawing, he chuckled. "Yes… This has just gotten much better. I play De-Fusion, to split Cyberdark Dragon back into its three components, meaning I can now bring back Cyberdark Edge (800/800), Cyberdark Horn (800/800), and Cyberdark Keel (800/800) all three to my field in defense."

The large combo monster slowly began to glow, sending the large black dragon away. Once the glow died down, the two metallic looking bug creatures and the machine snake like dragon appeared onto the field, with each taking up a defensive position on horizontal card images.

"So, you're defending?" "Not quite. You see, I'm going to boost my dragon's strength to such a point, that you can't defeat him. I fuse my three monsters with Power Bond!"

On the field, three strange looking creatures that were all made of a dark toned metal began to swirl together. The swirling soon ended and a powerful combination of the three dragons appeared onto the field.

"According to the official rulings, the boost that my Cyberdark Dragon receives is counted as part of its original attack points." (3700/1000)

"Now Power Bond doubles my Cyberdark Dragon's attack points (3700 2 7400/1000)."

The dark dragon instantly roared as its body glowed with a dark aura, thus increasing its strength. "Now finally, I equip it with my mighty Felgrand Dragon!" Once again, the golden dragon appeared, and it was drawn into the form of the mechanical terror (10200/1000).

Dartz was impressed. "Ten thousand two hundred? Now that's pretty impressive. Why don't we see if it works?"

Zane growled. "Cyberdark Dragon, destroy his Undead General with Darkness Strident Blaze!"

Roaring loudly, the black metal dragon launched a stream of black energy straight for the weird zombie standing in front of Dartz. "I can't be defeated. So I won't. I activate my facedown Mirage Magic, which lets me negate your attack and boost my life-points by your monster's attack points."

Zane gasped as his monster's attack was blocked.

"Not… possible!" "Oh, it's very possible. Just not very common."

Zane's head fell, and he growled to himself. Dartz outclassed them in every way. Right now, the best thing they could do was stall him until Yugi arrived.

"Damn…. I end."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Anubis could feel fear now. This was getting way out of hand. An insane draw engine deck, coupled with the Seal and the most powerful god?

Tea looked at him coldly. "I activate the special ability of Seraphim Monarch. I can discard one card from my hand to destroy a magic or trap card on the field. I choose to destroy all of my magic and trap cards except for and Infinite Cards. I gain one thousand life-points per card."

Anubis raised an eyebrow as all but one of cards disappeared, and her life-points went up again. "I don't need those cards, anyway. Now, I play Escalating Power. By returning at least three monsters from my field back to my hand, I can send any number of cards from my hand back to my deck. From then on, I am considered to have at least those many cards in my hand. I send thirty out of my forty-four cards to my deck. As per the rules of Escalating Power, the seventeen in my hand will be added to the thirty I sent back, in order to give me a hypothetical total of forty-seven cards in my hand."

Anubis raised an eyebrow as her Seraphim Guardna, Seraphim Gunner, and Seraphim Blader disappeared, leaving the still veritably powerful Seraphim Monarch (3000/1000).

"Now, you will face the truest might of the angels. I play Angelic Summon, which lets me sacrifice one angel on the field to add any two angels in my graveyard whose base attack points are less than the attack points of the sacrificed monster, to my hand. My choices are Archlord Zerato (2800/2300) and the Agent of Deception-Uranus (1900/1600)."

Anubis gave her an incredulous look as the deadly monster disappeared, and she added the card from her graveyard to her hand. "You just destroyed a monster with three thousand attack points for a card you can't even summon? My Breakers can tear you apart now."

Tea ignored him. "Next I set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

(Tea: 77100, Anubis: 10900)

Anubis drew, and laughed. "Time for you to taste real power. I sacrifice Shadow Breaker as well as Torture Breaker to summon Diablos, King of the Abyss (2800/1000)!"

Roaring loudly as it appeared was a large black dragon with a massive wingspan, powerful clawed hands and feet, and a strange spiked head. It growled at Tea. "I can't activate his effect right now, so I simply choose to attack your monster with Blaze of Death!"

His new monster growled, and spat a ball of black flames at the brown-backed card. Tea was quite unperturbed at this. "You destroyed my Shining Angel (1400/700). Upon destruction, I can special summon a level four or lower angel from my deck to the field. My choice is the Agent of Wisdom – Mercury (0/1700)."

A blue skinned and blue winged angel now took its place next to Venus. He hefted a stone tablet under one arm and rubbed his chin in reflection with the other. Anubis smirked at the appearance of the weak monster, but said nothing as he ended his turn with a facedown card.

"You shouldn't have destroyed Muka Muka Energy," laughed Anubis. "With it, all chances of your success have been wiped out."

Tea gave him a withering look, and then drew. Before she could look at the card, Anubis smirked. "Stop! The effect of my Diablos activates. I can look at the card before you can." Tea rolled at her eyes and showed it to him.

"How nice. I can't let you have that card, so the second part of his effect comes into play, with me being able to send that card to the bottom of your deck." Tea shrugged, and slipped the card into the bottom of her deck. She drew the next card.

"Now, you will face one of the most powerful angels to ever exist. I play Polymerization!" The vivid image of Tea's Archlord Zerato appeared on the field. "Now, Mercury, Venus (1600/0), Mars (0/0) and Saturn (2400/0), lend your power to Zerato!"

The sword-wielding archangel was pulled into a vortex along with the blue fairy, the two red-skinned angels, and the finally the golden one. Anubis took a step back.

Tea threw back her head in eerie laughter. "Now… Face the ultimate power of light! I summon Legendary Seraphim Zerato – Lord of Immortality (4500 500 5000/3500)!"

A tall, holy figure rose up on Tea's field. It was dressed in white armor that gave off such strong light that Anubis felt like puking his guts out. It had aqua-green bangs flowing down its back to its neck, and a large cape fluttered out behind it. In one hand, the archangel held a long, white staff, with an ornately carved top. It looked at Anubis, and it seemed like the creature was smiling.

"Damn… What the hell is that thing?!"

"It is your death," laughed Tea. The force of the summoning of her angel was giving off air currents that were throwing her bangs back.

"Legendary Seraphim Zerato allows me to remove one angel in my graveyard." The mighty Archlord Zerato appeared on the field, a halo on its head. It bowed its head, and disappeared. "And guess where those attack points go?" (7800/3500)

Anubis clenched his fists in anger. "No! This cannot, will not happen to me!"

"It just did," replied Tea coldly. "Attack with Divine Creation!" The deadly agent of heaven raised its staff, and it seemed to absorb light from all around them. Everything seemed to change color as the aura around its staff built up.

Suddenly, it dropped its staff, and a massive ring of pure, heavenly energy soared towards the King of the Abyss. The dragon roared, and attempted to weather the attack, but the moment the heavenly energy touched it, it was instantly destroyed; shattered, gone forever.

"When it destroys a monster in battle, I can deal you the attack points of that monster in life-point damage." The seraphim gave a sad smile, and followed up the attack with another nexus of white power, which struck Anubis' torso, causing him to gasp with pain.

Yami's Shadow magic was dark, so fighting against him was a piece of cake, since Anubis' dark powers made him immune to any kind of dark magic. However, this girl wielded the full power of heaven. True light magic was something that could do Anubis in. There was only so much he could take.

"Well, make your pathetic move," sneered Tea.

(Tea: 77100, Anubis: 2100)

Anubis drew, and a feral grin spread across his face. "I play Black Noose of Death! I can remove one monster from play on your side of the field!" Tea immediately countered.

"Another of Zerato's abilities activates. By discarding an angel from my hand, I can negate one magic or trap effect that targets an angel on my field. Here goes Airknight Parshath (1900/1400)." Anubis gasped as noose descended from the shadows. It was about to loop itself around the Seraphim's neck, when it exploded.

"Fine!" spat Anubis. "I play Death Fusion, which lets me remove from play a dark fusion material monster in my hand and my graveyard to special summon a fusion! I remove from play Hell Soldier (2500/2100) and Fury Dark Dragon Knight (3400/2000)."

Tea was rather surprised to see the fusion monster that had been such a bother during the beginning of the duel appear on the field, along with a burly demon in black armor. The demon carried a long scimitar.

"I'd like to introduce the instrument of your demise. Meet Dark Tyrant- Ultima (5000/0), which can only be summoned by the effect of Death Fusion!!!"

The demon reached over with its scimitar, and struck the dark knight and its steed. The two began to swirl together, and suddenly, the Seal began to glow.

"One of my most powerful monsters has arrived. I have many others, but this one is best for this situation."

Lightning struck the ground, and a huge, shadowy form began to descend from the sky. It soon revealed itself, and even in her indifferent state, Tea's eyes widened.

The demon was made of nothing but bone and tissue. It resembled the Summoned Skull a bit, although it was probably five times as big. Its claws were as long as Tea herself. Gigantic wings seemed to spread out and eclipsed the light provided by the Seal. Its face was horribly ugly, although one tended not to mention that after seeing the size of the creature. Forty foot long legs strained to hold up the entire thing, which had spikes lined up on its back.

The Legendary Seraphim Zerato raised its staff in a defensive stance, and glared angrily at the demon, who growled in anger.

"Let the ultimate clash of light and dark begin! The ultimate angel versus the ultimate demon! Mwuahahaha!"

"I have three words for you, Anubis," said Tea, narrowing her eyes. "Bring it on."

"I will make sure you regret the very second you spoke those words! I activate my Dark Tyrant – Ultima's ability, to discard a demon from my hand, which will let me add its attack points to those of my ultimate monster, the lord of demons!" Tea grimaced as he sent the God of Death sent Dark Lucius LV8 (2800/900) to the graveyard. "This means Dark Tyrant – Ultima (7800/0) matches your Legendary Seraphim Zerato."

Tea shrugged. "I set one card facedown and end my turn," concluded Anubis. The Dark Tyrant growled, as if backing him up.

Tea drew, and closed her eyes. She stood like that for a minute, and then her lids snapped open. "I am going to have it, Anubis," she whispered.

"_Revenge_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**The ultimate angel…. The ultimate demon…. Such power. Meanwhile, Kevin Hunter finds himself in a duel that is nearly impossible to win. See it all in the next chapter!**

**I haven't the time or inclination to mention my original cards. I do say this though……….. REVIEW! Also, please feel free to submit characters for the sequel. A basic description, along with a deck theme is all that's necessary. If there are a few powerful original cards, mention those as well. Also, include their past.**

**Anyway, I'll try and update soon now that exams are over. After this story ends, I'll be working on the fic that I'm co-authoring with my bud, Illidan the Half Demon. Those of you who haven't read his stories really should. Anyway, ciao!**


	37. Don't Play with Fire

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: Don't Play with Fire

**Would you believe it? I'm back in three days with a 9000 word chapter!**

**Tefa: I'm glad you like it. Honestly, those meaningless characters were eliminated to show the strength of the enemy. The duels were inspired by the works of Wolf General and Seeker of the Soul. I'd advise you to check those out if you like my stuff; you'd worship theirs.**

**Mystralwind: Don't worry… Tea's power will soon be revealed. As for Yami Marik… Who knows?**

**Anyway, enjoy the duels!**

As Dartz drew, he saw Zane's knees buckle, and the master of Cyber Style dueling gasped in pain. "It's the effect of Power Bond…. I lose life-points equal to my monster's original attack points. In this case, the boost is counted."

(Dartz: 14900, Joey: 8000, Zane: 2300)

Dartz picked off his next card. "Here goes, Denial by Power! I can send three cards with the same name from my deck to the graveyard at the cost of a thousand life-points. If I pay another thousand, I get to draw one card." He didn't even notice the cost.

He found the necessary cards in his deck, and shoved them into his graveyard. He then picked off his next card. "Hah! Time for you to realize the hopelessness of this situation. I play Fated Revival. I can special summon all Orichalcos monsters in my graveyard than have been sent to the graveyard this turn through card effects. Now, I revive all three Orichalcos Hell Dragons (2500 1400 3900/2000 x3)!!!!!!!"

Three, large, black dragons appeared on the field. Each one was about twenty feet long, and they had huge spines coming down their backs. Large claws crackled with power, and tiny, red eyes shown brightly. The three roared so loudly, that it felt like the cosmos was on the verge of Apocalypse.

Zane wasn't impressed. "Even if they were twice as powerful, they wouldn't be a match for my Cyberdark Dragon."

Dartz raised an eyebrow. "We'll see. Their effects activate. Each one gains two hundred attack points for every other Orichalcos monster on the field." Zane shrugged. "That's a thousand for each of them." (4900/2000)3

Joey's eyes, however, widened in shock. The standards of his dragons and Swordmaster were very high in regular dueling… But this was just insane.

"Now, I set my last card, and end my turn, for Fated Revival forces me to sacrifice my battle phase."

Joey drew, and then began to grin. "I play the Card of Sanctity." Each of the three duelists breathed a sigh of relief as they looked over their new hands.

"Time to fight back: big time! I play De-Fusion, splitting Black Skull Dragon back into Red Eyes and Summoned Skull!" The deadly black dragon appeared along with the demonic creature (2400/2000) (2500/1200).

The three Orichalcos Hell Dragons roared at them. They weren't intimidated, however.

"Now, I sacrifice Red Eyes Black Dragon to special summon my most powerful monster. Allow me to introduce, my Red Eyes Darkness Dragon (2400/2000)!"

At that moment, however, dark shadows began to seep all around the Red-Eyes, even as its signature ruby-like eyes glowed brightly, with evil intent. It roared as it was engulfed by the shadows. There were flashes of light and when the darkness cleared, what looked like a demonic version of the Red Eyes. Red and golden veins popped out from various parts of its body.

"Impressive," chuckled Dartz. "But other than, well, _scare _me, what's that thing going to do?"

Joey chuckled dryly. "You'll see. You'll see soon enough. It gains three hundred attack points for every dragon in my graveyard. There's Red Eyes Black Dragon, and Knight of the Black Dragon. But since myself and Zane are dueling as a team, it benefits from his graveyard as well. I count three in his, meaning my guy has thirty-nine hundred attack points!"

Dartz scoffed. "Your field is full of weaklings! I don't understand you people!"

Joey gave him a hard look, and then turned to Zane. "Take it away."

Zane nodded, and drew. He smiled faintly. "This was the complete point of the Card of Sanctity. I play Double Spell, which lets me discard Repayment of Losses, to take a magic card from another player's graveyard. I choose De-Fusion."

Dartz was not impressed, as Zane added two more cards to his hand. "Next, I play De-Fusion, splitting my Cyberdark Dragon back into its component pieces. This lets me once again special summon Cyberdark Horn (800/800), Cyberdark Edge (800/800) and Cyberdark Keel (800/800)!"

The huge dragon disappeared, and was replaced by the three machine-like, black creatures.

Dartz snickered. "How pathetic. You sacrificed a monster with over ten thousand attack points for these three pieces of junk?"

Zane would have normally been angry with someone who insulted his monsters, but he smiled dryly. "Keep at it, and you're going to have to deal with a beast that is beyond your imagination. I'm going to show you what I mean. I first sacrifice Cyberdark Horn for the trap master himself, Jinzo (2400/1500)!!"

The mechanical dragon disappeared, only to be replaced by a tall robot. It was wearing green armor, and it buzzed angrily on seeing Dartz.

"Fine. None of us can activate traps. Exactly how does that help any of us?" laughed Dartz.

"It's all part of our plan to put you out of commission," replied Zane coldly. "Permanently."

"I set one card facedown and end my turn. When it's my turn again, we can finally end this, and finish all the pointless suffering you delight in causing."

"You see, Mr. Truesdale, the problem is you're not going to have another turn. DRAW!" He picked his next card with such force that winds began to glow all over the spacious, haunting room.

"I summon Orichalcos Shadow Knight (1500 1400 2900/1500) in attack mode!" A tall warrior appeared, hidden by the shadows of the room. A single sword gleamed through the darkness, and a high cackle echoed throughout the room.

"Upon being summoned, he lets me special summon all Orichalcos monsters in my hand with base attack points that are less than then its own attack points are summoned to the field. There are two, so I special summon Orichalcos Demon Cyclops (500 1400 1900/2500) in defense mode, as well as Orichalcos Starlight Shadow (2500 1400 3900/1200) in attack mode."

A brown, demonic cyclops appeared on the field, with its arms crossed in a defensive maneuver. The other one was a tall wraith cloaked in black. However, it seemed to radiate waves of light as well. It held a scythe in one hand, and the blade of its weapon was glowing.

Dartz was surprised to see Joey and Zane facing him confidently, strangely calm looks on their face, even though his Hell Dragons (5500/2000) had gained even more power. Hell, the combined power of his monsters was over thirty thousand. This was more than even the most powerful of his minions, namely Solomon Moto, was capable of. He had never used his power to its fullest except against Yami, and his two duels with Marik. These fools shouldn't be able to stand up to it…

Shaking of his apprehension, Dartz declared angrily, "Orichalcos Chaos Soldier, lead the charge and decimate that pathetic Jinzo!" The gruesome chaos demon raised its sword and shrieked. It shot off across the field, and with a slash it was about to slice the Jinzo in half, to defeat Zane.

"Do you think I wouldn't be prepared?" challenged Zane. "Here goes the quick-play magic card, Cyber Protection! I can immediately end your battle-phase, and also, I can special summon one machine monster that has 'Cyber' in its name to the field from my deck, as long as its base attack points are less than those of the strongest monsters on my field. Here comes Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)!"

The familiar, silver, snake-like dragon appeared on Zane's field, next to Jinzo. It growled, and the Orichalcos Chaos Soldier was blocked by an invisible shield.

"I can also send a card from my hand to the graveyard to special summon a level four or lower machine from my graveyard to the field. I'll discard Repayment of Losses again, to special summon back Cyberdark Horn (800/800)!"

The metallic bug like creature with many sharp spiky wings, a series of spikes, four pronged spiked arms, a sharp tail, and a strange set of jaws reappeared. It growled at Dartz. Meanwhile, Zane drew a card.

Dartz growled. "Fine! If I can't end the duel now, I'll give you another lesson in ultimate power! I play Polymerization, fusing Orichalcos Hell Dragons to summon Orichalcos Ultimate Hell Hydra (4000 5400/3500)!"

The three dark dragons were pulled into a vortex, and out emerged a beast so terrifying that even the Lords of Hell would be shocked by such a beast. It represented the original Orichalcos Hell Dragon, however, it had two other heads sprouting out of its body. It had two pairs of wings instead of one, and it was roughly fifty feet high. A massive tail slammed into the ground behind it.

"He gains four hundred attack and defense points for every Orichalcos monster on the field!" The hydra-like creature began to receive waves of energy from all other monsters on Dartz's field, until its attack points reached seventy-four hundred, and its defense was fifty-five hundred. It was nearly as strong as the devastating power of the Orichalcos Chaos Soldier now.

Joey and Zane still didn't seem worried. "Are you done?" asked Joey mildly. Dartz was on the verge of an explosion as he ended his turn.

Joey drew, and pumped his fist in the air. "Yeah….. yeah…. yeah!!!! First I switch Gearfried the Swordmaster to attack mode, and then I sacrifice all three of Zane's Cyberdark monsters to summon the man himself, GILFORD THE LIGHTNING (2800/1400)!!!!"

Zane's three monsters shattered and on Joey's field came a tall, muscular warrior wearing minimal armor. His style of consisted of grey armor, and a long, flowing cape, though there seemed to be spikes extended from his helmet. It raised a huge sword, and gave a battle-cry.

"Since I sacrificed three monsters, every monster on your field is destroyed!"

It raised its sword, and a massive bolt of lightning swept over the Atlantian prince's field. He growled in shock as all six of his monsters shattered. "NO!" he roared in rage.

Joey smirked. "Now, you're wide open to all our monsters. Meteor Black Dragon, attack with Meteor Blaze!" The huge, black, lava-like dragon spat out a ball of fire at Dartz. It hit his chest, and he was driven a few feet back.

Dartz gasped in pain. He never expected this to happen.

"Red Eyes Darkness Dragon, Gearfried, and Gilford, attack directly!" The huge black dragon fired a sphere of flames at Dartz, and the two swordsmen rushed forward and slammed their swords across his chest. He was nearly knocked off his feet.

"I still have my Summoned Skull! Attack with Lightning Strike!" The fiend-like creature roared, and fired a bolt of lightning in Dartz's direction, causing him to gasp again. "Yeah… You're done without your army."

(Dartz: 200, Joey: 8000, Zane: 2300)

Zane drew. He only had his Cyber Dragon and Jinzo, but either one was more than capable of defeating the cruel king. "Cyber Dragon, end this duel with Strident Blaze!" The snake-like dragon roared, and began to charge up a burst of white energy in its maw. It then fired out the attack in Dartz's direction……

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bakura scratched his head as the group of four waited for the elevator. They were going to confront Dartz and end this. After that, they would find Anubis.

Apparently, it was coming from a floor lower than them. It opened with a beep. Standing inside it was none other than Yugi Moto, with the soulless body of his grandfather on his shoulders.

Kaiba's eyes widened. "Don't tell me…." Yugi seemed too distracted to even notice that Kaiba was back. He fell to his knees again. There was a flash, and he was replaced by Yami. He seemed very, _very_ angry.

He slowly lowered the old man to the ground, ignoring the strange looks that everyone gave him. He glanced at Kaiba, and spoke in a cold voice. "So… You're back?"

The young CEO nodded. "It was Anubis." Yami didn't respond, and instead began to walk away. Kaiba caught up to him. "What's going on?" he said in a low voice, while Kyle, Kevin and Bakura looked on strangely.

"For one, Tea has stolen the Winged Dragon of Ra." Kaiba blanched. "_Gardner_? Tell me you're joking. _Please_, tell me you're joking."

Yami sighed, his cold look disappearing. "I'm not. I don't know how she did it. It can't be Anubis or Dartz, because Ra wouldn't respond well to their dark magic. What's more, I was able to use the power of my Puzzle to sense that Tea and Anubis were within very close proximity to each other. Ra was with her."

The other three were silent. Kevin didn't know who Tea was, but the fact that someone had stolen the most powerful Egyptian god was enough.

"It seems like Dartz was controlling Yugi's grandfather as well. We dueled him, and he had all kinds of insane cards. In the end, I barely won." He pulled a deck out of his pocket.

"I respect the cards of others as much as my own. But if we want to defeat both Dartz and Anubis, we need powerful decks. Kaiba, you've faced Anubis. What is his strategy like?"

Kaiba looked thoughtful for a moment. "It's very difficult to judge. He depends on using powerful monsters that benefit from having monsters in his graveyard, and he loves keeping a good-sized hand. He has some monsters that have effects that make them very tricky to defeat. He uses that to stall. And of course, he has his sphinxes."

Yami nodded. "Well, this deck has a few cards that could help." Opening the deck, he pulled out Gilford the Lightning and Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End.

"I can do without the second one, though." He glanced over at Kevin, surprised.

Kaiba quickly filled him in about what had happened within his own mind. It left Yami with a faint smile on his face, although he said nothing. "Very well. I'm sure that after they've tried to kill you twice, you won't bother double-crossing us. Since you use a dragon deck, I think maybe you should keep Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End."

Kevin shook his head. "I haven't got enough light and dark monsters. It would be essentially useless to me." He looked over at Bakura, who smirked. "Please, Pharaoh. What use would I have of such a meager creature? Bah! I have enough in my deck. I don't need any of the old man's cards."

The last few words caused Yami to tighten his jaws, but he said nothing. He looked over at Kyle, and extended the card. "I think you should keep it. With the Dark Magician of Chaos as your strongest monster, you'll need some more power to even out the odds."

Kyle took it appreciatively. "Thanks."

"In that case, you might as well have the full set of Chaos monsters," said Yami quietly, giving him a few other cards. "These should work well with your light and dark spellcasters."

"I don't really think there are any other cards worth taking from his deck. For now, I think we should move ahead and defeat our two remaining opponents."

"Agreed," chuckled Kaiba, cracking his knuckles. "When I get to Anubis, he won't know how he beat me last time-…."

"No," spat Yami. "Anubis is mine. I am going to find him and make him pay." Seto glared at him, and challenged, "You've had the pleasure of destroying him once. I want that pleasure as well."

Yami gave him a hard look. "Dartz beat you as well. I assume you want revenge there? Let me do this, Kaiba. I have Slifer and Obelisk. They are going to be necessary to defeat Anubis."

Seto paused. "I suppose I'll deal with that Orichalcos swine. Give Anubis a beating he isn't going to forget."

Yami gave a hollow chuckle. "Oh, I intend to. When we get out of this mess, I'm going to need to have a normal duel with you, Kaiba. One that doesn't have the fate of the world hanging in its balance."

The CEO smirked. "I'll be waiting, Yugi. I'll be waiting."

The Pharaoh glanced over at the other three. "I'd advise you to let Kaiba deal with Dartz. Bakura, if the two of you double-team him, then victory will be much easier."

Kevin and Kyle both began to yell in indignance, but Yami was already walking away.

Kaiba and Bakura had forgotten about him. "Let's go," motioned the Thief King to the two teenagers. They walked into the elevator, and began to ascend. "We've got to make it to the eighty-ninth floor. I'll bet that's where Dartz is hiding," said Bakura quietly.

He turned to Kevin. "What do you know, Hunter?"

"Well… They didn't tell me where the Dartz and that Anubis freak are. I do know, however, that for Dartz, there was a sort of reception waiting to greet the challengers. I'm sure you can guess what kind."

Bakura shook his head. "So when we meet these charming fellows, we'll know that we've reached Dartz." Kyle was silent. He was gripping his fist even tighter, and he was thinking back to the final turn of his duel with Karen.

_Flashback_

_Karen fell silent as the Dark Magician of Chaos closed his eyes. Massive energy flowed into him as he reached an incredible level of power. As he opened his eyes, the others looked at him in awe. The power he radiated come off in waves. He was like the God of Magicians._

"_END IT NOW! CHAOS SCEPTER BLAST!"_

_At last, the mage had enough power to finish the job. He then took aim with his staff and fired a powerful blast of dark energy at the Shadow, who stood his ground and didn't do a thing as he was hit by the powerful blast. The blast engulfed the Shadow completely on contact and yet there was no reaction from the mindless creature, who just stood there like a statue still till he was finally obliterated._

_Karen then felt the backwash of the blast as it struck her, making her fall to her knees. Her final life point then ran out, thus ending the duel. As he fell to her knees and her life points had run out, her eyes seemed to change._

_She stared in silence at the Seal closing in around her. She looked at a stony-faced Kyle, and spoke softly. "I don't think I deserve your pity. No, I took her soul. I don't. But please, I didn't have a choice."_

"_We always have a choice," spat Kyle as his monsters disappeared._

"_Not when he's involved."_

"_Whose he?" Karen let a tear fall from her eye onto the ground. "The man behind all this. Dartz."_

_She fell to the ground, soulless. Kyle's face was hidden by his hair. He spoke coldly and emotionlessly on looking up. "I'm coming for you Dartz. When I do, I'll end this mindless suffering. You're dead."_

_End Flashback_

He had vowed to defeat Dartz no matter what. And he would. Let his reception just try and stop him.

The door opened with a beep. The corridor was long, and wide. It would have been pitch black had it not been for the torches up on the walls. Even then, it was all very eerie. It was filled with mist, something the light of the torches could barely penetrate.

The four duelists were unfazed. "What reception?" scoffed Bakura as they stepped out of the elevator.

It was a place that evil flourished. They began to hear a very slow song echoing throughout it. It was very haunting, yet beautiful. Bakura felt a shiver go down his spine. "What is this place?!"

Slowly, very slowly, a figure began to walk through the mist. It was of average height, and it slowly trudged towards them.

As it came into closer view, their eyes widened. It was Jaden Yuki. His eyes were misty.

"YUKI?" gasped Kaiba. "What the hell are you doing here? Don't tell me you already made it through!"

The face of the Slifer Red student didn't seem to change. "I… am not… Jaden… Yuki.

"Who are you?!" roared Kyle, taking a step forward. Kevin's eyes widened. "No…"

Everyone looked at him. He shook his head in disbelief. "It… It… was something I heard Marik mentioning to Dartz once. When the Seal takes someone's soul, the body is still alive, even if the person in it has gone. Marik wanted to force wraiths from the Shadow Realm into those bodies! I didn't think it was true… But this is sick!"

Even Bakura seemed appalled. "I'm evil… I'll admit that. But these people are monsters! I will not wait until I see their bodies lying dead at my feet!"

Kaiba regained his composure. "But that means…. Yuki lost?" The thought had never occurred to him. It could mean that Wheeler, Truesdale and Rhodes were gone as well.

Slowly, a mass of other bodies began to file into the corridor. Kaiba looked around despairingly. He saw so many familiar faces. There was Rex Raptor, Weevil Underwood, Espa Roba, Mako Tsunami…. Then came Pentan and Todaku, the fools who challenged Yugi. There were many whom he had never seen in his life.

They all seemed physically dead. There skin was pale, and there eyes were blank. They spoke in monotones. Were it not for the fact that hundred of these… _things, _were walking up to them, the foursome would not know they were even alive.

"If… you wish to know… where Master Dartz… is….then duel," said Not-Jaden Yuki.

Bakura scoffed. "You fools may be dead, but I'm going to make you wish you were never born!" With a roar, the golden, flaming blades appeared in his hands.

He took off into the crowd, and began slashing with wild abandon. Two heads rolled off, and a third was stabbed straight through the chest.

Kaiba smirked, and began attacking as well. He lashed out with his foot, and caught Not-Jaden off guard. It hit his head, and there was a satisfying crack. Kaiba winced: Yuki was going to be hurt when he woke up.

Suddenly, the zombie-like creature grabbed his leg in both hands, and twisted it. Kaiba was knocked off balance, and fell to the ground. Grunting in pain, he leapt back up, and caught one wraith in the stomach with a roundhouse kick. His hands found two heads, and he rammed them together.

It was not enough. Kevin and Kyle were fighting as well. All four were in top condition, never better when it came to hand to hand combat. But there were just too many wraiths. They were essentially undead, and that meant that even a flaming sword through the chest wouldn't put them out of commission.

The four fighters found themselves backed up together. The ones Bakura had beheaded were eerily fitting their heads back on, and walking slowly towards their victims.

"Too many to fight conventionally," growled Bakura. Kaiba nodded, ducking a punch, and throwing the perpetrator across the room.

"You know what to do, boys," grinned the Thief King. Suddenly a massive white dragon appeared, along with a dark armored, warrior with a sword, a blue-skinned magician in a red and black bodysuit, and a large, orange dragon with fire leaking out of its jaws.

"Blue Eyes, show these fools the true meaning of power with White Lightning!"

"Reign-Beaux, Overlord of the Dark World, enjoy yourself!"

"Tyrant Dragon, attack!"

"Dark Magician of Chaos…." Kyle rubbed his chin for a moment, trying to think of a snazzy line. He shrugged, and shouted, "Dark Magician of Chaos, attack!"

The four monsters let lose a barrage of energy in all directions. Their power roared around them, and the attacks threw all the creatures back against the walls. It shredded their flesh, tore their clothes. But it didn't hurt them. As the monsters ceased their attacks, the wraiths got up slowly again. Their wounds began to heal in a most horrible manner, and they began to walk towards the group of four.

Suddenly, one of them threw another. It landed on the Blue Eyes White Dragon's neck, and it shrieked and began to punch away mercilessly. The dragon brushed it off with its claws, but there were too many. Soon, all four monsters were being attacked by the creatures.

Bakura let out a roar of anger, and his Millennium Ring exploded with power, throwing all the wraiths back. All four duelists had their Duel Disks activated.

"Fine…" panted Bakura. "Let's duel. If we win, we get through."

Not-Jaden seemed surprised. "So… you… challenge…. the shadows…. to a… Shadow game? Very well… it will begin with four on four… it will… be a… duel… with four… instead of… eight thousand… life-points…."

Four wraiths walked forward, active DD3s on their wrists.

"Let's duel!"

(Kevin: 4000, Kyle: 4000, Kaiba: 4000, Bakura: 4000, Wraith One-Four: 4000)

Kevin drew, and gave a nasty smirk. "Welcome to hell. I play Polymerization fusing the Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500/1100) and the Lord of Dragons (1200/1100) to summon King Dragun (2400/1100) in attack mode!"

Kevin discarded the Lord of Dragons and the Divine Dragon Ragnarok. There was a flash of light, and a new beast was on the field. It had a long, brown serpentine body, with the torso and head of a fiend with two green wings.

"Then I use his ability so special summon Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500)!" Roaring onto the field was the dark orange dragon with a massive set of wings.

"I set a card and end my turn."

Kyle drew immediately. "Here goes Graceful Charity!" He discarded two cards, and drew three. "I play Monster Reborn, to revive my Dark Magician (2500/2100)!" The familiar, purple-robed magician appeared, and dropped its staff in the direction of his master's opponents.

"Next I play Dedication Through Light and Darkness, sacrificing him to special summon Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!" The Dark Magician was replaced by the deadly, blue-skinned Chaos Mage. "His effect lets me take a magic card from my graveyard and add it to my hand. I do so, and immediately use Monster Reborn to summon back to Dark Magician!"

The purple mage returned, and Kyle held up another card. "Next I sacrifice him for my Vanguard Magician (2500/0)!" The mage of darkness was replaced by a sorcerer in golden armor, with a white staff. He looked imperiously at the zombies. "I can't use his effect this turn, so I end with a facedown."

Seto drew, and laughed dryly.

"I summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1500)!" The blue and yellow robot appeared on his field. "Next I play Union Rush, which lets me special summon a union monster from my deck if one is already on the field, as long as they don't fuse to summon a fusion specific to them this turn. Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300)!"

A yellow tank appeared on his field and glowed.

"Finally comes Frontline Base, which lets me special summon one level four or lower union monster from my hand. Meet Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600)!"

The metallic, red dragon with glowing, yellow eyes appeared, and screeched. "I union all three to summon XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!" Pieces of the three broke off, and began to form the massive monstrosity that was among the most powerful union monsters in the game.

"I end my turn!"

Bakura drew. "I can't let you chums have all the fun, now can I? Here goes Card Destruction!" All eight duelists discarded their hands and drew new cards. "Excellent! I remove three demons that I discarded from play to special summon Dark Necrofear (2200/2800)!" A blue-skinned woman appeared on the field, in all her occult glory. She was dressed in platinum armor, and held a puppet in her hands. She glared at the wraiths.

"Next I play Soul Release, to remove from play all three cards in my graveyard. Next I summon Gren Maju Da Eiza (0/0)!!!" There was an explosion spread across Bakura's field. It was a fiendish creature with an exposed exoskeleton, red skin hanging off every part of its body. Its eyes were rather lifeless.

"He gains four hundred attack and defense points for every one of my cards removed from play, making him very powerful indeed." The horribly, fiendish creature (2800/2800) growled.

The team of four was done. Now came the wraiths themselves.

The first one drew very slowly. It seemed like it was difficult for it to simply move. "Set…. monster… Facedown… card… End turn…." Two brown backed cards appeared in front of the strange duelist.

The second zombie-like wraith drew. "Set monster… defense mode… end turn."

The third one drew. "Summon… Spirit Reaper (300/200)… attack mode." A small zombie in purple robes appeared. It held a long scythe, and shrieked upon coming onto the field.

"Equip… Invincible Zombie… Spirit Reaper can destroy… any monster…. in battle…" The scythe began to glow, and the small creature's muscles began to grow. "Also…. play… Quick Attack… Spirit Reaper… attack XYZ Dragon Cannon…."

The creature growled, and took off across the field, scythe flashing. Kaiba smirked. "You're still going to take damage, you know. That's why I'll chain Limiter Removal to knock you out of the game!" The zombie crashed into the combo machine (5600/2600), and the resulting explosion hit the dueling wraith, and knocked him off his feet. He fell to the ground, once more soulless.

(Kevin: 4000, Kyle: 4000, Kaiba: 4000, Bakura: 4000, Wraith One: 4000, Wraith Two: 4000, Wraith Three: 0, Wraith Four: 4000)

The fourth one drew. "Summon… Zombie Master (1800/0)." A crazed looking mage appeared, dressed in brown robes. Its eyes reflected madness, and it had long gray hair. "Discard card…. Special summon level four or lower….. zombie… from graveyard."

It send a card to the graveyard, and a turtle with a pyramid on it's back as it's shell then appeared on the field. The pyramid had an odd red eye in the center. "Summon… Pyramid Turtle (1200/1400)… defense mode. End… turn."

"Finally!" groaned Kevin. "Damn! I thought those idiots would never end their turns. Here goes! I play Fury of the Ancient Dragon, which lets me double the attack power of one dragon on the field for the duration of the turn. I choose Tyrant Dragon (5800/2500)!" The orange dragon roared as it grew in size.

"King Dragun, attack Wraith Number Two's facedown monster!" The long, snake-like creature fired a sphere of rainbow energy at the card, shattering it instantly. "Tyrant Dragon, end it with Tyrant Flame!" The deadly dragon roared and fired a huge wave of flames at the zombie. It looked on emotionlessly as the flames threw it across the room. It landed on the floor without a soul.

"I end my turn. Kid, you better take those guys out, damn' fast!"

(Kevin: 4000, Kyle: 4000, Kaiba: 4000, Bakura: 4000, Wraith One: 4000, Wraith Two: 0, Wraith Three: 0, Wraith Four: 4000)

Kyle drew. "With pleasure. I activate Vanguard Magician's effect, sacrificing my Chaos Mage to him to destroy all monsters on you freak's field. There are three, and Vanguard Magician gains 1000 attack points for each one destroyed. Do the math."

The golden magician crossed staffs with the blue-skinned sorcerer, and the latter disappeared. The remaining mage rained down blasts of energy on the two remaining zombie's fields, and the three monsters were destroyed (5500/0).

"Next I play Sorcerer's Rage! One spellcaster on my field has the ability to attack twice this turn. Therefore, I'll have Vanguard Magician attack both you weirdoes directly, to end the duel!" The magician fired a blast of pure, white energy at the two wraiths. It forked out into two, and both were knocked off their feet.

(Kevin: 4000, Kyle: 4000, Kaiba: 4000, Bakura: 4000, Wraith One: 0, Wraith Two: 0, Wraith Three: 0, Wraith Four: 0)

Not-Jaden seemed unworried. "Four… more… will…take….their places…"

Four more zombies stepped forward.

"Right," smirked Kaiba.

"I play the continuous magic card, Black Death of Life! As long as I discard a card from my hand to maintain it, every standby-phase, I gain life-points equal to the number of life-points. It applies for all of us, which means that whenever any one of us does damage to you, that duelist will gain those many life-points. Next, I play Pot of Greed." He examined his next two card.

"Here goes! I summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200)!" The familiar, black-armored ogre appeared. It raised its long, axe-like spear, and roared at the zombies.

"Yes… Vorse Raider the Mad Beast. He is, in fact, my favorite monster after my Blue Eye set. Now, attack Freak Number One!" The beast growled, and charged across the field. With a single slash of its blade, it drew a line of blood from the wraith. It returned to Kaiba's field with a blood-lust filled grin on its face.

The CEO ended his turn with a facedown.

(Kevin: 4000, Kyle: 4000, Kaiba: 5900, Bakura: 4000, Wraith One: 2100, Wraith Two: 4000, Wraith Three: 4000, Wraith Four: 4000)

Bakura drew. "Foolish creatures! I sacrifice Dark Necrofear to activate Hell Lightning! This will deal all of you damage equal to her attack points, at the cost of a single discard!" The blue-skinned demon screamed in pain as she disappeared. The mist seemed to shake, and bolts of black lightning struck every one of the zombies. The first one was thrown away, his life-points reaching zero. Bakura slipped a card into his graveyard.

"It was Repayment of Losses, which lets me draw. Also, the discard was Repayment of Losses." He picked a card off his deck.

"Hah! Time for true power. I play Journey Across the River of Styx. I can select five demon monsters from my deck, and the one you choose goes to my hand, while the others are removed from play." He showed the wraiths the four cards, almost bored.

The first one murmured, "Keep… Gren… Tactician…" "Yeah, yeah, yeah… No need to continue that." He slipped the other four cards into his removed from play pile. "Now my Gren Maju Den Eiza (4400/4400) is even more powerful! Decimate the second one with Towering Inferno!"

The huge demon roared, and fired out a wave of black flames at the wraith. It fell over, defeated and dead.

"It seems like their ritual had the side-effect of having the wraiths as shields," pointed out Bakura. "Since you idiots seem so worried about hurting those weaklings, you don't have to worry now."

Kaiba smirked. "Excellent. I can hit them as hard as I want."

(Kevin: 4000, Kyle: 4000, Kaiba: 5900, Bakura: 19400, Wraith One: 0, Wraith Two: 0, Wraith Three: 4000, Wraith Four: 4000)

The first of the two remaining zombies drew. "Play… Graceful…Charity…" The wraith stared at its new hand. "Activate… Book of Life… Revive Vampire Lord (2000/1500)… Remove from play… XYZ…Dragon Cannon…"

A caped man with blue hair, dressed in a sinister tuxedo, and with bats that were shining with electricity on their bodies from within his cape. Two bat-like wings sprouted from its shoulders.

"Remove Vampire Lord… from play… Summon Vampire Genesis (3000/2100)…."

The caped man disappeared, and the darkness began to glow. Out of the shadows, a large purple monster with wings attached from his arms to his back appeared. It had a large head with sharp teeth, and was rather disgusting to look at in general.

"Discard Despair from the Dark (2800/3000)…. Special summon… zombie from graveyard… Level less… than discard… Summon Ryu Kokki (2400/2000)…" A grey creature with some red and blue on its chest, made up of skulls, rotting flesh, and other disgusting pieces then appeared next to the Vampire Lord, and growled.

"Play….. Riryoku… Cut Gren Maju Den Eiza's…. attack by half… Increase Vampire Genesis'… attack by…same amount." The towering abomination (2200/4400) growled in anger as its power reduced, while the deadly Vampire Genesis (5200/2100) increased by the same amount.

"Activate… Wraith's Servitude… One zombie… gains ability to… attack twice… Vampire Genesis… Attack Gren Maju Den Eiza… and…. Tyrant Dragon…"

The zombie heaved its arms up, and a towering spiral of red mist crashed into the orange dragon. It roared in pain and fury, before it shattered. At the same time, Gren Maju Den Eiza was ripped apart by the blood-like mist.

Kevin and Bakura gasped in pain as their monsters were destroyed. Bakura glared at the wraiths. "Damn you… Damn you all!!!!!"

"Ryu Kokki… Direct attack…" The brutish creature slammed into Bakura, but a flash of his Millennium Ring blew it away.

(Kevin: 1700, Kyle: 4000, Kaiba: 5900, Bakura: 13000, Wraith One: 0, Wraith Two: 0, Wraith Three: 4000, Wraith Four: 4000)

The fourth one drew edgily. "Play…. Zombie Evolution… Discard zombies from hand… Special summon zombies that… is up to two levels…. higher… Discard Double Coston (1700/1650) and Vampire Lord (2000/1500)… Special summon… Despair from the Dark (2800/3000)… and Ryu Kokki (2400/2000)…"

The first monster rose onto the field, a monster of pure darkness, its true form hidden within. The second one was the bone-covered, brutish zombie that the previous wraith had summoned.

"Double… attack…" It pointed at Kaiba. The Ryu Kokki tore the Vorse Raider to shreds, and the Despair from the Dark rammed its claws into the young man's chest. He growled in pain as he was nearly knocked off his feet.

"End… turn…"

(Kevin: 1700, Kyle: 4000, Kaiba: 2600, Bakura: 13000, Wraith One: 0, Wraith Two: 0, Wraith Three: 1800, Wraith Four: 1800)

Kevin smirked. "Well, you guys got some free damage in. Now we're going to strike back. Here comes Diamond Soldier (2000/0) in attack mode!" A warrior in sparkling diamond armor appeared, hoisting up a great sword, the blade made of solid diamond.

"When he's summoned, I can draw cards equal to half the level of one dragon on my field. Here are three cards for me." He picked up his next three cards.

"Perfect! I play Diamond Revival, which lets me special summon Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400), Luster Dragon (1900/1600) or Hyozanryu (2100/2800), if Diamond Soldier is on the field. I choose the first one."

Another dragon appeared, this one with green skin and blue eyes. In fact, it looked almost exactly like Kevin's Luster Dragon. "I union Diamond Soldier and Luster Dragon #2, to special summon my Crystal Blade Dragon (3500/2300)!"

The soldier immediately mounted the tall dragon, and it began to change. Its sword grew longer, and it began to glow. The dragon's emerald skin turned light blue. It roared at its opponents.

"Hah! This new monster will defeat you! Now, Crystal Blade Dragon lets me discard a card from my hand to gain life-points equal to the combined levels all fusion material monsters in my graveyard, multiplied by a hundred. That's eighteen hundred life-points for me. Since I discarded Repayment of Losses, I can draw as well."

He examined the rest of his hand, looking over the remaining combos. "Now, I activate King Dragun's effect, to special summon Templar Dragon (2700/2500) from my hand!" The new monster was roughly as big as the Tyrant Dragon, and purple in color. Its eyes reflected benevolence, as well as anger at those who sinned. On its back sat a very classic looking knight, complete with white armor and a long sword.

"He lets me draw a card for every other dragon on the field, when summoned." The dragon duelist sensation greedily snapped off the next two cards. "Ah…. I activate Diamond Blade! By sacrificing Templar Dragon, I can special summon Diamond Head Dragon (0/0) from my deck!"

The purple drake was replaced by a green one, which was a bit bigger. It had diamonds on its head, wings and back, and it roared at the two wraiths. "This dragon has the attack and defense points of the sacrificed monster, plus a thousand more attack points." (3700/2500)

"Finally, I play Monster Reborn on my Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500)!" The deadly orange dragon reappeared.

"Tyrant Dragon, attack the second guy's Despair from the Dark!" The leviathan spat out a column of flames that incinerated the shadowy creature. "I use its ability, which lets me attack twice when you still have a monster. Say goodbye to Ryu Kokki!" The bone-covered beast was shattered by a fireball from the huge orange dragon.

"Diamond Head Dragon, destroy his Vampire Genesis!" The new creature roared, and fired out a burst of red flames at the strange zombie, which was immediately obliterated.

"Crystal Blade Dragon, destroy the first guy's Ryu Kokki!" The dragon took flight, and as it reached the ceiling, it dropped from the air towards the zombie. With a single slash of its shining blade, the Diamond Soldier lopped of the creature's head. When it came around, the dragon followed it up with a blast of white flames for good measure.

This was enough to knock out this wraith, and he was thrown across the room to join the growing pile of soulless bodies. "Finally, I'll have King Dragun beat the other freak with Dragon Master's Blast!" The monster fired a sphere of rainbow-colored, translucent energy at the zombie. He crumpled to the ground.

(Kevin: 10000, Kyle: 4000, Kaiba: 2600, Bakura: 13000, Wraith One: 0, Wraith Two: 0, Wraith Three: 0, Wraith Four: 0)

As Kyle drew, Bakura gave a scornful laugh. "Four at a time? Not enough. Send more!" "Very… well," said Not-Jaden.

Twenty more wraiths stepped up, each with barely active Duel Disks. Kyle drew, and chuckled. "I activate the field magic card, Fusion Gate!" The entire field was now wreathed with an empty, infinite black space. It was covered with mounds of green lines that looked digital, and they formed mountains, long plains and all kinds of things.

"We can now fuse monsters without Polymerization, although they are removed from play instead. So I summon Sunrise Sorcerer (1500/2000)!" The new monster was dressed in golden armor, and carried a long staff in one hand. Its helmet showed its face, which reflected happiness and joy. A long, orange cape flowed of its shoulders.

"When he's summoned and I have another magician on my field, I can special summon Sunset Sorcerer (2000/1500) from my deck!" This mage was dressed in gray robes, and carried a dagger, along with a staff. Its face was hidden by a shroud, and it had a black cape on.

"When these two magicians are on the field at the same time, I can activate their ability. Now, each of you will lose life-points equal to the total levels of magicians on my field, multiplied by 100. Vanguard Magician is level ten, and these two are each level fours. Which means that's eighteen hundred points of damage to each of you."

The two magicians crossed their staff, and white energy poured out of one, while black energy escaped from the other. They began to merge, and formed a golden ball of pure power. With a growl, the two mages dropped their staffs, and the ball sped towards the twenty wraiths. Each one was hit by the attack, and they were knocked off their feet.

Slowly, the got up. Their skin was charred, and their Duel Disks and cards blackened. They didn't seem to care.

"Whoa! I dealt you guys each 1800 points of damage, which is a neat thirty-six thousand life-points for me."

(Kevin: 10000, Kyle: 40000, Kaiba: 2600, Bakura: 13000, Wraith One-Twenty: 2200)

Kaiba was impressed, but still apprehensive. There were hundreds of these wraiths. How were they meant to defeat all of them?

Meanwhile Kyle had other plans. "I chain Fruits of Greed, which activates when I gain more than three thousand life-points. I can draw a card for every thousand life-points I've gained. If the boost is more than ten thousand, its reduced to one card for every two thousand life-points. I draw eighteen cards!"

Kevin's eyes widened in wonder. Damn, this was going to really hurt those wraiths. "Time for fusion," announced Kyle nastily, trying to hold a hand of twenty cards like it was a normal hand.

"I use Fusion Gate to fuse Sunset Sorcerer and Sunrise Sorcerer for Starlight Magician of the Eclipse (3300/2400)!" The two mages were pulled into the depths of the hollow emptiness, and a new creature rose up. It was about the height of the Vanguard Magician, and wore silver robes. It held a long, aqua staff, and glared at the wraiths.

"Next I'll play Monster Reincarnation, discarding a card to bring Dark Magician back to my hand. I'll immediately throw it into the Fusion Gate, along with Light Magician, to special summon Supreme Chaos Magician (3500/2900)!"

The new monster resembled its fusion materials very closely. However, it had platinum armor, and its staff had a bladed bottom. Its face revealed hardened blue eyes.

"I don't intend to stop. I fuse Black Sword Mage (2200/1000) and White Shield Mage (1000/2200) for my Battle Soul Paladin (3000/3000)!" The new monster was a warrior in black and white armor. It held a long sword that seemed to radiate darkness in waves, and a shield that was giving off light. It raised its head to show eyes that burned with righteousness.

"Here go Hell Magic Soldier (1700/1500) and Heaven Magic Defender (1500/1700) to summon forth Chaos Magic Warrior (2900/2300)!" This new magician was dressed in red and blue armor, and had a sword belted onto its waist. It carried no staff, but its hands glowed with power.

"Next goes Zone Expansion, which lets me pay two grand a turn to play monsters in my magic or trap card zones, or magic and trap cards in my monster zones. My choice is obviously the former. So I continue, fusing Chaos Sorcerer (2300/2000) and Sorcerer of Dark Magic (3200/2800) to special summon Dark Warlock Soldier- Envoy of Death (3600/3200)!"

A blue-skinned magician dressed in a black battle-suit, and carrying a long, purple staff appeared. Black, chaotic energies swirled around the end of its staff. It looked up with a grin on its face, and flames exploded around it.

"Finally, I fuse Vanguard Magician, with the Asguard Magician (3000/0) in my hand, to summon a magician so powerful, he was feared by the Gods themselves! They considered him to be an agent of Hell, although that's just their opinion. In truth, he's just a very, very powerful sorcerer."

Kaiba, Bakura and Kevin had been watching Kyle's insane fusion summoning with growing interest and anticipation, eager to see what he was capable of bringing out. The black armored sorcerer appeared next to the golden robed one.

The two were pulled into a vortex, which seemed to explode with chaotic energy. "This card is the rarest and most sought after magician ever. Industrial Illusions only produced one copy. Ever. Pegasus considered destroying it, but instead gave it to Ishizu Ishtar to look after. She put it in the same vault as Slifer the Sky Dragon. When Marik Ishtar went after the god, he took this one as well. He didn't have either of the fusion components, and stacked it away. He later gave it to Dartz.

"That creep gave it to Solomon Moto, who luckily didn't have the fusion materials. Yugi took it from his deck and decided to give me this just in case I needed it. So here goes, the most powerful spellcaster to ever me made; the god of magicians! Meet Supreme Apocalypse Sorcerer of Chaos (0/0)!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tea drew, and held up a card. "I play Foolish Burial, sending Shinato, King of a Higher Plane (3300/3000) to my graveyard."

A giant blue skinned angle with six golden wings then disappeared into the graveyard. "I remove it from play to boost my Legendary Seraphim Zerato's strength! (11100/3500)

"Now, show him that angels will always destroy his pathetic demons with Ultimate Immortality Wave!" The angel flicked its staff in a single arc, and a wave of light sped towards the gigantic demon. Anubis immediately countered. "I activate my facedown card, Labyrinth of Death! This lets me negate your attack and deal you damage equal to your twice monster's attack points, if it is a non-demon!"

Tea's eyes widened as a black shield blocked the attack, and it rebounded, knocking Tea off her feet. She gasped as her skin turned pale, and struggled to breath as the trap drained her life-points.

"Not… possible…" she choked.

"Oh, it's very possible, mortal girl. It was foolish of you to assume that you could challenge me in the first place. Do you think high life-points are enough to defeat the God of Death himself? Bah! Pick yourself up!"

Tea struggled to her feet, and was barely able to feebly slip a card into her magic and trap slot. "End… turn…"

(Tea: 54900, Anubis: 2100)

Anubis rumbled with delight as he drew his next card. "Excellent. Your Seraphim will fall now. I discard the Dark Ruler Ha Des (2450/1600) and Fallen Angel Zharrgast-Envoy of Hell (4000/0) to fuel Dark Tyrant – Ultima's might!" (14250/0)

Tea gasped in shock. She had the duel in the palm of her hand. She had been _playing_ with him.

"I was toying with you all along. Do you think the Pharaoh's little sidekick stood any chance against his greatest enemy? Now my demon, attack with Abyssal Hellfire!" The grotesque creature raised both its hands, and black flames began to evolve in them. With a roar, it fired the attack in the direction of the king of angels.

Zerato wouldn't give up without a fight. He created a shield around himself and Tea with his staff, but it was no use. The Seraphim was hit by the attack, and completely burnt to a crisp. Its corpse finally shattered.

Tea fell to her knees in shock. Anubis was laughing until his sides were aching. He wiped a mock tear from his eyes.

Between gasps of pain and laughter, he was able to say, "That… That was excellent…. You will die!!!"

The words sounded oddly sinister in his strange mood. "I'll…. I'll end my turn…" He fell into insane laughter once more.

(Tea: 51750, Anubis: 2100)

Tea drew numbly, and gave a faint smile. "Two cards facedown. I set a monster in defense mode. End turn."

Anubis drew. "You will pay, foolish girl! I discard Giant Orc (2200/0) to fuel my Dark Tyrant's might!" (16450/0) "He is truly invincible! I also activate Fairy Meteor Crush, which will allow him to deal piercing damage, or damage through defense! Attack with Abyssal Hellfire!"

The black fire once again shattered Tea's monster, and the pain hit her hard. Her Royal Knight (1300/1800) was far too weak to withstand such an attack. "I'll end my turn, now that the duel is nearly over."

(Tea: 37000, Anubis: 2100)

Tea drew, and laughed. "You fool! That was an insanely stupid move, one that you won't live to regret. You left those two cards on the field, leaving you open to the ultimate lockdown! I play Monster Reborn to revive the Agent of Creation – Venus (1600/0)!"

The blue-skinned angel reappeared. "I sacrifice her to summon this! Angel 07 (2500 500 3000/1500)!" Anubis gave her a strange look as a new fairy appeared. It was silver, and had a rather mechanical appearance. Its wings looked like they were made of metal.

"Upon being tribute summoned, it negates all other monster effects!" Anubis' eyes widened as the metallic angel began to give off waves of silver energy. They hit his Dark Tyrant – Ultima, which groaned as it began to weaken (5000/0).

Anubis immediately relaxed. "How useless. It's still two thousand points weaker than my demon."

"Perhaps right now… But I equip Angel 07 with Mage Power, which boosts its attack and defense points by five hundred for every magic and trap card on the field. There's the Seal of Orichalcos, my two facedown cards, and Infinite Cards. Not to mention Mage Power itself."

Anubis gasped in shock as the Angel 07's (5500/4000) shot past those of his Dark Tyrant – Ultima. "Damn…" "Attack now!" The angel fired off a wave of silver fire at the massive demon. It hit his torso, and sliced off the top half. Whirling around, the angel fired off another blast at the corpse of the demon, incinerating it. Anubis' life-points fell to 1600.

"Now, for the method of sealing your fate! I activate my two facedown cards, Imperial Order and Royal Decree, which will negate all magic and trap cards respectively. You know what this means. All magic, trap and monster effects are useless."

Anubis gasped. "N-…. No!"

Tea gave him a cold look. "_Anubis… Die_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Phew! Life or death duels really take their toll on you, every once in a while, lol. Anyway, I hoped you enjoy this. The way I'm writing, the next chapter should be up in the next week. **

**I only got two reviews last time, which is really disappointing. Please review!!!!!!!!! Cya.**


	38. Escalating Battles

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: Escalating Battles

**Well, it's a bit short, as I wasn't in much of a writing mood the past three days. Suspense is hilarious, so I'm keeping you waiting on Tea vs. Anubis. the two on one duel is concluded, as is the duel against the dueling zombies. **

**Shadowcat: Unfortunately, I don't have access to manga where I live. I hope you like the chapter.**

**HimeAmelie: It's not exactly Jaden, it's a wraith summoned by Dartz and Anubis. But on the topic of Jaden turning evil… Well, never mind exactly.**

**Mystralwind: Well, there isn't any Tea vs. Anubis duel here. You'll get plenty of that next chapter.**

A massive form erupted out of the ground. Kaiba, Kevin and Bakura watched in wonder as a human figure began to take shape. It was perhaps twenty feet tall, not the biggest monster they had ever seen, but the waves of power that it radiated were enough. This was going to win them the duel…

It seemed like they were wrong. One of the zombies had held up a card. "Activate… Blast Meteor… Discard card…. From hand…. Deal one thousand damage…"

Kyle grunted as a flaming ball of rock hit him in the chest, and his life-points dropped a bit. "It doesn't matter! The moment Supreme Apocalypse Sorcerer of Chaos hits the field, this duel ends."

The zombie seemed to think differently. "Discarded Makyura the Destructor (1600/1200)…. Effect allows activation….of trap cards…from hand… Activate Solemn Judgment…. Pay half life-points…Negate summon…"

Kyle's eyes went wide in shock. "NO!"

But it was too late. Light flashed across Kyle's field. The rising figure let out a battle-cry that stung everyone's eardrums, but it couldn't stop the trap card. With a roar, it disappeared, leaving silence across the field.

Kyle let out a roar of anguish. "YOU DESTROYED MY MONSTER! I WILL DESTROY YOU!" He looked over his remaining ten cards, and growled in anger.

"Battle Soul Paladin's effect activates. He gains one counter for every other magician on the field, during my first main phase." Four glowing balls appeared next to the black and white warrior-mage.

"I'll come to those later. I activate Supreme Chaos Magician's effect. I can add a magic or trap card from my graveyard back to my hand." He smirked and held Sorcerer's Rage.

"My Dark Warlock Soldier's effect activates. He gains three hundred attack points for every one of my monsters removed from play. I have ten." (6600/3200) "I activate his other ability, sacrificing his attack this turn to deal you damage equal to the number of spellcasters on my field multiplied by three hundred!"

The blue-skinned mage in a black battle-suit shrieked, and rained down chaotic blasts of energy one the wraiths.

(Kevin: 10000, Kyle: 70000, Kaiba: 2600, Bakura: 13000, Wraith One-Nineteen: 700, Wraith Twenty: 0)

"Next I activate my Starlight Magician of the Eclipse's effect. It's quite unique, you see. He lets me discard two cards from my hand to reuse the effect of one magician on my field this turn. You know what that means. Dark Warlock Soldier, destroy those freaks!"

The black armored sorcerer once again gave a battle-cry and raised his long staff. It began to glow, and chaotic blasts of energy rained down from the room, hitting all the remaining zombies, and throwing them off their feet.

"That's game!" he grinned, his anger disappearing.

(Kevin: 10000, Kyle: 100,000, Kaiba: 2600, Bakura: 13000, Wraith One- Twenty: 0)

Kaiba was impressed. One hundred thousand life-points. Of course, it was all because of his magic card. He found himself grimacing, for he knew that there were still hundreds of wraiths that they had to plow through.

Suddenly, Not-Jaden spoke up. "I… am sure you are aware… that this is….a hopeless duel…Even if you defeat them… twenty…or thirty at a time… There are a total of ten thousand, three hundred and twenty-nine wraiths."

Kevin's jaw dropped, while Bakura and Kyle grimaced.

Kaiba shook his head and smirked. "Fine. We'll take them all on." "Are you crazy?" demanded Kevin. "10,329 against four? Do you really hate living that much?"

Kaiba ignored him. "Bring it on. The four of us versus some ten thousand pathetic zombies. This is going to be a breeze."

Bakura stared at him. "In my time, I've seen some insane people. Religious zealots ceaselessly beating their bottoms with brambles… Insane emperors who order their soldiers to put hundreds to death… But you… you really take the cake, Kaiba. You do realize that if we take on all ten thousand of them we'll lose right?"

The CEO glared at him. "No… I do not realize that. All I realize is that I'm going to put those dumbasses permanently in their graves so that we can carry on and deal with that fool Dartz."

"Very well… Let the duel… begin…"

An endless army of the zombie-like duelists stepped forward. Finally the sound of tens of thousands of duel disks activated reached his ears, and Kaiba smirked. It seemed impossible that they could fall fit in the corridor, but hell, when magic was involved, Kaiba had learned to accept anything.

(Kevin: 10000, Kyle: 100,000, Kaiba: 2600, Bakura: 13000, Wraith 1-10,329: 4000)

Kaiba drew, and gave a loud laugh. "Hah! Here's what I meant when I said that I would end the duel. I remove from play X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) and Vorse Raider (1900/1200) to special summon my Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!"

Roaring onto the field was a massive black dragon with an orange mane, massive wings, powerful clawed hands and feet, and sharp teeth. Glaring at the white mage, the dragon let out another mighty roar.

Bakura slowly grinned when he realized Kaiba's plan. "You're a real slimey bugger, you know that, Kaiba?" he muttered to himself.

"It ends now! I activate Chaos Emperor Dragon's ability, paying a thousand life-points to obliterate every card on the field as well as our hands. Each of you are dealt three hundred points of damage for every card destroyed. I think I'm right when I say that this is real overkill… APOCALYPSE EXPLOSION!"

Roaring loudly, the large black dragon flew to the middle of the field and began glowing slightly with a bright light. Bit by bit, the dragon gathered energy within its body, preparing silently to deliver the final blow to its master's enemies.

Letting out a massive roar, the powerful dragon began to release his energy, and exploded. It was nothing short of catastrophic, and it seemed like the universe was about to explode. All of the monsters were shattered, and the four duelists discarded their hands.

A string of explosions began to occur, jumping from zombie to zombie as dealt damage to each and every one of them. And Kaiba was gaining life-points all the time, as his Black Death of Life magic card had its effect chained to that of the Chaos Emperor Dragon.

As they were dealt damage, the wraiths began to fade. The smoke began to clear, and it left Kaiba, Bakura, Kevin and Kyle as the only people in the infinitely large corridor.

(Kevin: 10000, Kyle: 100,000, Kaiba: 18,598,900, Bakura: 13000, Wraith 1-10329: 0)

Kaiba threw back his head and began to laugh for a full five minutes. His three companions watched him strangely all the while until his mirth finally subsided. "Damn… That was a real ego stroker."

Bakura decided not to mention anything to the CEO about his laughing fit. "Wait…" he grimaced.

Not-Jaden was still standing in the middle of the corridor, his Duel Disk active. Kaiba stepped forward, but Kevin stopped him. "I'll deal with this," he said shortly.

"I'd advice you three to go on ahead and deal with Dartz." Kyle, Kaiba and Bakura looked at each other and shrugged.

Not-Jaden was grinning. "_I am a particularly intelligent wraith, rather more so than those fools. At least, I do not have there linguistic problems. You have passed the test, and destroyed the army of Dead Duelists. Dartz awaits in his private chamber beyond_." He pointed to the large, ivory door at the other end.

"_I would love to duel one of you, but I was ordered to stand down of the Dead Duelists were defeated. Therefore, I will leave Dartz the fun of dealing with you pathetic worms_."

"Wait!" roared Kyle and rushed forward. Not-Jaden let out a cackle, and fell to the ground, soulless. "The wraith escaped…" muttered Bakura.

"It's going back to its master. Anubis put it there. According to the rules, it would return to Anubis once the Dead Duelists were destroyed. Which means that that freak might want to absorb the wraith…" Bakura didn't finish the sentence.

"Which means Gardner is essentially doomed," concluded Kaiba.

"I just hope Yugi is up to the challenge," growled Kyle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dartz roared with laughter. "I activate the quick-play spell card, Foolish Defense! I can reduce all damage to zero this turn, however, you can shuffle cards from your graveyard back to your deck equal to the potential damage divided by 100. Which means you can return twenty-one cards to your graveyard."

Zane swore angrily as the Cyber Dragon's attack was blocked by a golden shield. "Fine!" He looked through his graveyard, and picked out a stack of cards which he shuffled into his thinning deck.

"I play Machine's Revolt! I can add level four or lower machines from my deck to my hand, equal to the number of machines on my field." He looked through his deck and immediately found the necessary cards.

"Since Jinzo can't attack… I'll have to set two cards and end my turn."

Dartz drew, and spread out his hand of seven cards. "Bah! I play Monster Reborn to revive my Orichalcos Demon Cyclops (500 500 1000/2500) in defense mode!"

The brown demon in gray armor reappeared, and its single eye blinked upon seeing the huge group of monsters on Joey and Dartz's field. "I sacrifice it to special summon Orichalcos God Cyclops (1500 500 2000/4000)!"

It was replaced by a new, horrifying creature. It was quite large, and was clad in black and white armor. It had a massive shield and sword, and in the middle of its face was one horrible, huge yellow eye.

"This card has the highest defense in Duel Monsters, and can only be summoned by sacrificing Orichalcos Demon Cyclops, when the Seal of Orichalcos is on the field."

Joey growled. "Damn… How we supposed to get past four thousand defense points?"

Zane was silent. Dartz smirked. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

It was back to Joey. He drew, and growled. No monster in his deck could was enough to destroy a monster with four thousand defense points… He could only hope that Zane had something.

"I end," he said heavily.

Zane drew, and a smile began to play on his lips.

"I play Power Bond, fusing Cyber Dragon, with the Proto-Cyber Dragon (1100/600) in my hand, to special summon Cyber Twin Dragon (2800 2 5600/2100)!"

Two machine snake like dragons appeared onto the field in a flash. The first was an older dull grey colored metal and had many wires hanging out of its body, as if it wasn't finished being built. The other dragon was had a sleek silver body that was finished with a simple strong head.

Dartz shook his head in horror. "No!"

"Attack with Double Strident Blaze!" Roaring loudly, each head opened its jaws and shot out a white stream of energy straight in the direction of the divine cyclops. Zane expected it to be shattered, but surprisingly, it raised its shield, and blocked the attack.

"What the-…" swore Zane. Dartz smirked nastily.

"During my opponent's battle-phase, I can reduce its attack points to zero, in order to boost its defense points by two thousand!" (0/6000)

Zane clutched his chest and gasped in pain momentarily before shaking it off. His life-points fell by another four hundred.

Dartz raised a hand. "I also activate my facedown card, Futile Battle! When you don't succeed in destroy an Orichalcos monster in battle, I can increase my life-points by the attacking monster's attack points."

Zane growled in anger.

"And when you end your turn, Power Bond's secondary effect will activate, and the duel will end for you," chuckled Dartz. "And Mr. Wheeler will be left alone to combat me."

Zane shook his head. "Unfortunately for you, that's not the case. I summon Cyber Kirin (800/800)."

A large silver mechanical dog instantly materialized onto the field and let out a mechanical howl. "I can now sacrifice him to absorb whatever damage Power Bond _would_ do to me this turn." He gave a satisfied smile, and ended his turn.

(Dartz: 5800, Joey: 8000, Zane: 1900)

Dartz drew, and growled in frustration. At the rate this was going, they would soon find a way to overcome his defenses…. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Joey drew. "All right! I equip Gearfried with Excalibur, which permanently double's his attack points as long as I continue to skip my draw phases." A long, shining sword appeared in the hands of the barbaric warrior (5200/2200).

"And ya' know what that means! I can now destroy your God Cyclops!" The deadly warrior let out an ear-splitting battle cry, and charged across the field. With a single slice of its blade, and it cleaved the titanic cyclops in half.

Dartz's eyes widened as the remaining pieces disappeared. "Gilford, destroy his facedown monster with Thunderbolt Cut!" The lightning warrior growled, and tensed his thighs. With a burst of speed, he was upon the facedown card, and he slashed down with all his might.

The card flipped over to reveal a small, green imp. It pouted at Gilford, and there was an explosion of green energy. "Orichalcos Avarice (0 500 500/500) can survive battle with any monster, and I can draw cards equal to the level of the attacking monster."

Joey growled in anger as he picked off eight cards from his deck, giving him a total of twelve to work with. "Damn this… Damn this all!!!"

There was nothing left for him to do. "I end my turn…." he sighed heavily.

Zane drew, and shook his head. There was nothing he could do until he drew a monster removal card.

Dartz drew, and finally, a look of satisfaction spread across his face. "Yes… Yes… Yes! I play Orichalcos Eternity Ritual, which discard cards from my hand to special summon level four or lower Orichalcos monsters from my hand. I discard three cards to special summon my level Orichalcos Black Centaur (1800/1000), my level three Orichalcos Asguard Dragon (1500/1400), and my level four Orichalcos Malevolence (1500/1000)!"

The black horse-human hybrid appeared, along with the golden dragon and the huge, red creature with extremely long fangs appeared. They all growled at Zane and Joey.

"Now that I send my three monsters to the graveyard, I can summon this! Meet Orichalcos Demon Dragon (?)!"

The two duelists cringed as he heard a cross between a screech and a roar. A terrifying new beast was hurtling towards the ground. It was jet-black in color, and had glowing, green eyes. Its limbs had long claws, and two razor-sharp horns issued from its head. It looked like a devilish version of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, except the Red-Eyes didn't look so horrible. It was strange that it could fit in the room.

Zane took a step back. "What the… What the hell is that thing?!"

Dartz eyes reflected mirth. "This is the deadly creature that nearly destroyed Marik Ishtar during our first duel. His escape was so narrow that one might even call it the grace of the gods…" He chuckled at his private joke. "Anyway… Its effect will now activate. It's attack and defense points are equal to the combined attack and defense points of all Orichalcos monsters in my graveyard, not to mention the boost from the Seal."

The Orichalcos Demon Dragon (34600/33600) was more than strong enough to pick its teeth with an Egyptian God card. Zane and Joey both paled.

"No freakin' way… That's not just damn possible!" swore Joey.

"ORICHALCOS DEMON DRAGON, OBLITERATE TRUESDALE WITH DEMONIC DEVIL BURST!" Dartz had complete bloodlust in his eyes.

The dragon opened its mouth and a blast began to form in its mouth. It was black and was also glowing. With a roar, it fired the blast at the two-headed creature. Zane countered promptly. "I activate my facedown Wabuko, which protects my monsters and reduces all battle damage to zero."

A group of robes mages appeared. With their chanting, they were able to fend off the blast. Dartz roared in rage.

"I WILL NOT LET YOU SURVIVE THIS DUEL!" he shrieked angrily, ending his turn.

Joey breathed a sigh of relief. Zane had just saved himself. Hell, Joey found himself shivering at the thought of facing this nightmarish opponent all by himself… It was insane.

He drew slowly, and looked over at Joey, who was smiling faintly. "Don't worry. I have a plan to defeat it. But I'm going to need you to weaken it first."

Joey shook his head in bewilderment. Oh well… He would try. He looked over at his new card, and grinned. It looked like Yugi had been right about the Heart of the Cards. First, he switched all his monsters to defense mode, and then glared at Dartz and slid it into his spell and trap card zone.

"I play Soul Release, to remove your five strongest Orichalcos monsters from play!" The vague, blurry spirits of the Ultimate Hell Hydra, the Chaos Soldier and the three Hell Dragons appeared on Dartz's field. Each gave a mournful roar, before they disappeared (20400/20900).

"Still far too much for you," laughed Dartz.

"We'll see," said Joey, narrowing his eyes. "Here goes my next card… Spell Reincarnation. By discarding a spell card from my hand, I can take another one from my graveyard. My choice is Soul Release, which I immediately play." Dartz couldn't help but grimace as his Nine-Tailed Fox, Shadow King, Death Monarch, White Knight and Black Centaur also appeared before shrieking and disappearing (9800/12800).

This had made quite the difference. It had gone from being untouchable to simply very powerful. Far more powerful than anything summoned in normal duels, granted, but it was now defeat able. Zane gave Joey a grateful look, and looked Dartz directly in the eye while he drew.

"You've hurt too many people. I simply can't allow it to continue."

"What are you going to do about it?" sneered the Prince of Atlantis.

"I'm going to defeat you. This duel has lasted thirty-three turns, and I will not let it get to a thirty-fourth. Dartz…" he raised his fist.

"I am going to defeat you, right here and now."

Dartz ignored him.

"Let me show you what is considered to be the ultimate machine fusion. I first play De-Fusion, to split my Cyber Twin Dragon, back into the two Cyber Dragons (2100/1600)!" The two headed machine dragon roared, and was replaced by the two dragons.

Dartz snorted. "Next I play Polymerization, to fuse it with them with the third Cyber Dragon in my hand for this, my Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

Three mechanical silver snake like dragon appeared onto the field, each letting out a small mechanical roar. The three soon began to glow with a blinding blue light, making it impossible to see the field. Once the light died down, a large three headed machine snake like dragon with massive wings on its back let out a mighty roar.

"Nowhere near strong enough," laughed Dartz. "You would have been better off with that idiotic Cyber Twin Dragon, at least that won was strengthened by Power Bond."

Zane's eyes flashed. "Never insult my monsters like that. _Never_." Even Dartz seemed surprised by the venom in his voice.

"Next I play Overload Fusion, which lets me remove from play fusion materials for any dark type monster. My choices are the three Cyber Dragons, the three Cyberdarks, and Cyber Twin Dragon!"

Slowly, one by one, the monster cards slid out of Zane's graveyard slot. Picking the four up, along with the other two machine monsters on his field, he placed the six into the removed from play slot.

"By doing that, I can special summon one Dark Machine type Fusion monster. My choice is this, my Chimeratech Overdragon (?/?)!"

A black shroud of darkness formed onto the field, and slowly up from it, a machine snake like dragon with six heads appeared, with each head letting out a loud mechanical roar. This was the monstrosity that had so easily obliterated Kenshin.

""For each monster I sent to my removed from play pile, my dragon gains 800 attack and defense points." (5600/5600)

The many headed dragon roared at Dartz's monster, who didn't seem the least intimidated. The Jinzo glared as well, unaware that it stood no chance against this insanely powerful creature. Very few creatures actually did.

Dartz looked bored. "Three little weaklings. Am I missing something here?" "As a matter of fact, you are. You see, I'm going to sacrifice Jinzo so that he can evolve. I send Jinzo to the graveyard so that I can summon Android – Psycho Lord (2600/1600)!"

The green robot began to buzz, and it grew a good three feet taller. It was now glowing with pink energy, and long, wires began to sprout out of its back. The ends of the wires were bladed, and it gave the android a much more deadly look. Electricity crackled all around it.

"His effect now activates, and I can look at your hand." Dartz shrugged and held it out. "All trap cards are sent to the graveyard, and you lose three hundred attack points for each trap card."

Dartz shrugged and slipped two cards into the graveyard pile. He winced slightly as two of the long wires attached to the android's back darted towards him and stabbed his stomach. His life-points fell to fifty-two hundred.

Zane looked over his field proudly. "I have all three of my most powerful machine monsters on the field. Each one has served me loyally and well in the past, and it's time they do it once more. But this time… They won't be doing it alone."

He triumphantly lifted a card to Dartz. "Here goes, Fusion Recovery. This lets me add a fusion material monster and Polymerization back to my hand." The graveyard slot spat out the two cards, and Zane caught them neatly in his hand.

"Next I play Polymerization."

Dartz paled. "Uh oh."

Flames exploded around the ground, and lightning struck the field, resulting in a _very_ chaotic mix of noise. The three monsters took off into the air, and they disappeared into the darkness.

Dartz looked around in fear, while Joey seemed ecstatic.

There was a roar, and a crash, and a titanic golden form seemed to be hurtling towards the building from the distant night sky. Joey watched in awe through the window as the colossal creature crashed into the wall, and tore its way into the building. It had knocked off a huge part of the room and ceiling. They were now completely open to the sky.

Joey got his first good look at the new creature. It was a dragon, but a dragon unlike anything he had seen in his life. It seemed to give off the same kind of power that the Egyptian gods did. It was not as big as the Orichalcos Demon Dragon, but looked much grander. It was covered in golden and silver plates of armor, and its head and neck were those of the Cyber Dragon. The dragon had a long, spiked tail, and huge talons. Its armor glowed very brightly, and it opened its eyes to reveal jet black irises with small, red specks for pupils. Its wings flapped open, and tore away more of the ceiling.

"Face the unforgiving Cyber Soul Dragon - Angelus Imperium (5800/3600)!" said Zane, his eyes glowing with pride.

"I've never, ever summoned him before. It's just too difficult to get all these monsters on the field. But I did it, and your time is over, Dartz."

The huge machine roared, as if to punctuate what its master was saying. "First, he gains three hundred attack points for every machine that's removed from play. There are seven." (7900/3600)

Dartz looked at him scornfully. "Not enough!" "His second effect also activates. I can pay one thousand life-points to boost its attack points by two thousand."

Dartz's grin disappeared as the huge machine's attack points surpassed his dragon's, as it went up to ninety-nine hundred. "This will destroy your monster, but it won't destroy you. I want to end the duel here and now. That's why I activate its effect, which lets me add Limiter Removal to my hand, although I can't activate it this turn."

He quickly searched through his deck and found the necessary card. "Perfect. I activate Eternal Machine Menace! It lets me negate any one negative effect this turn at the cost of half my life-points. Which means I can instantly activate Limiter Removal!" (19800/3600)

Dartz took a step back in shock. "Cyber Heaven Dragon – Angelus Imperium, attack with Infinite Evolution Burst!"

The huge dragon roared so loudly that it seemed to shake the building. It fired out a massive blast of chaotic energy. It seemed a mixture of all colors, and Joey couldn't help but feel a bit afraid as it shot past him and crashed into the Orichalcos Demon Dragon's chest.

The terrible black dragon shrieked in pain, but it wouldn't die. It batted its wings with all its might, but the Cyber Heaven Dragon was just too strong. Finally, it gave in, and the blast tore through its chest and continued on towards Dartz. There was an explosion that knocked Joey and Zane off their feet.

The two of them expected the Seal to begin contracting in Dartz's direction. Instead, it began moving towards Zane.

Dartz's nasty voice echoed throughout the empty room. "When Orichalcos Demon Dragon is destroyed, I can deal you damage equal to your monster's attack points. Since you have only four hundred and fifty life-points left, it's a bit too much for you. At the same time, I discard Orichalcos Shadow Kuriboh (300/200) to reduce all damage to zero. Also, if a level eight or higher Orichalcos monster was being attacked, I can draw cards from my deck until I hold six."

The smoke began to clear, revealing Dartz's empty field. He did, however, a sick grin on his face.

Zane looked at the contracting Seal, and his closed his eyes. He immediately opened them. "I activate my facedown trap, Call of the Haunted, to revive Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

The powerful three headed machine dragon with a snake like body and large metallic wings reappeared on his field, even as the much larger fusion began to fade. "I immediately activate Martyr's Will, which allows me to transfer control of Cyber End Dragon to my partner."

The three-headed dragon roared mournfully at its master, before it slowly moved to a mortified Joey's field. "Please, Mr. Wheeler. Defeat him."

And then Zane was gone.

(Dartz: 5200, Joey: 8000, Zane: 0)

Dartz broke out into hysterical fits of laughter. "You're all alone… Mr. Wheeler. You're completely alone. It's just you and me, and the boy is gone. Tell me, wouldn't it make sense for you to surrender?"

Joey was barely listening. He was staring at the ground. But Dartz's words were now cutting through him like sharp blades of ice. "_Just place your hand on your deck_……"

The guilt was overwhelming. He could have done something… He could have protected Zane. At the end of it all, Zane was still a kid. Only nineteen… Serenity's age. Joey's chest tightened at the thought of his little sister. He had left her… He had left her all alone

Joey didn't know what to do. "_That'll make it all go away… You'll give your soul to the Great Leviathan… It will be an act of virtue… Surrender… and all the pain will end_."

Joey began to move his hand subconsciously towards his deck, while Dartz's silky voice encouraged him all the while.

Suddenly, several cries of indignation broke him out of his reverie. Gilford, Gearfried, the Red Eyes Darkness Dragon, and most importantly, Zane's Cyber End Dragon were roaring at him.

Joey's eyes brightened slightly. "_Zane didn't give me his Cyber End Dragon for nothing…_" It was true. Zane's last words were begging Joey to defeat Dartz permanently.

He moved his hand away and spat roughly at Dartz, "I'll never surrender! I promised that you would be defeated, and Joey Wheeler never breaks his promises…. So you can just kiss victory goodbye, cuz' I'm going to beat you once and for all!!!" His monsters began to roar with happiness while glaring at Dartz.

Dartz roared with anger. "You would dare to defy me?! I will obliterate you! DRAW!" He snapped the top card off his deck.

He looked over his full hand. He still had Orichalcos Avarice as a defense, but it would only last so long… He would need to draw something powerful soon, if he wanted to make it through this duel.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

A brown-backed card appeared behind the little imp.

Joey drew, and grinned. "First I switch all monsters to attack mode, and then I activate Raigeki Blade, which lets me reactivate Gilford's effect this turn!" The huge warrior raised its sword, and lightning struck it. With a grunt, it dropped the blade, and a bolt of lightning shot out and struck the small, green imp. It was instantly shattered.

"This is for Zane! Cyber End Dragon, attack with Super Strident Blaze!!"

Each head of the mechanical dragon roared loudly and took aim upon the magnet creature. Opening their jaws together, the dragons' mouths began to fill with white energy. Together, the three fired a stream of white energy, which combined into one single stream. It plummeted towards Dartz, who looked on imperiously.

"I activate my facedown Hallowed Life Barrier. By discarding Repayment of Losses from my hand, I can reduce all damage done this turn to zero."

Picking the card from his hand, Dartz dumped the card into his graveyard slot. Once it was in, a blue shimmering barrier appeared three feet away from his. It deflected the attack of the Cyber End Dragon. Joey snarled in anger, but was forced to end his turn.

Dartz drew…. and a smile of satisfaction spread across his face. "You haven't been dealt any damage this duel, have you, Mr. Wheeler? Personally, I'd like to change that." He laughed out loud and raised a card. "I play the ritual magic card, Advent of the Devil! I must sacrifice ten levels of Orichalcos monsters to activate this, so I'll discard my level twelve Orichalcos Shunoros (?/?)!" He slotted the two cards into his graveyard.

Joey noticed a small, green form in the distance. It grew larger and larger as it flew towards the Empire State Building. When it was about three hundred feet away, a sudden burst of power brought it to Dartz's side instantly.

It was a phoenix. But what a phoenix. It's feathers were razor sharp, and it had long, cruel talons. It was emerald green in color, although it was still flaming. Its eyes were an animalistic yellow, and its beak looked like it could tear Joey apart. Electricity crackled all around it. Overall, it had a very robotic look.

"This is my Orichalcos Chaos Phoenix (3000 500 3500/2500), a beast that surpasses even my Orichalcos Demon Dragon."

Joey looked on in shock. This new creature was stronger than all his monsters, except for Cyber End Dragon.

"Next I'll have it attack your Gearfried the Swordmaster with Black Flame of Hell! Its immune to all targeting effects, so don't even try using your magic or trap cards."

The huge bird screeched; a sound that would have driven the most hardened man insane. It opened its beak, and with a screech, it fired out a torrent of black fire at the juggernaut swordsman. He howled in pain as the fire burned him to a pile of cinders.

"Every time he destroys a monster, my Orichalcos Chaos Phoenix gains five hundred attack points." (4000/2500)

Joey gasped in shock. It was now as strong as the Cyber End Dragon. He knew well that only one card in his entire deck could save him now…

"I also activate its second effect, discarding a card to destroy a monster on the field that has less attack points than my Orichalcos Chaos Phoenix." The monster spat out a black fireball, which instantly shattered the Red Eyes Darkness Dragon.

"I end my turn," chuckled Dartz.

(Dartz: 5200, Joey: 7100, Zane: 0)

Joey closed his eyes, and placed his fingers on the top card of his deck. He closed his eyes and began to think. "_Yugi… Man, if only I could be as good as you. Damn, I'm lucky to have a friend like you. I was treating you like crap when it started out, but now… Hell, I just want to get through this alive_."

His eyes opened with bright determination. He glared at Dartz. "I'll show you my truest power! This is the kind of power guys like Yugi and Kaiba use. So, I DRAW!" He ripped the card off the top of his deck with such aggressive force, that a red aura seemed to flare out around him. Dartz was surprised. "Such draw force…"

A grin spread across his face. "Yeah… Yeah… Yeah… Yeah!!!! I play the Claw of Helmos!" Dartz gasped in shock. "NO!"

A large red dragon appeared on the field. It was rather bulky, and it had spike-like tendrils sprouting out of its back and tail. Its talons flashed, and it had wild, long fangs. Animalistic eyes flashed with anger when it saw Dartz. It let out a roar that turned Dartz's blood to ice.

"Next I fuse it with the Cyber End Dragon, which lets me transform Cyber End Dragon into an equip card!" The three-headed silver, mechanical dragon began to shine, as did the red dragon. They were pulled together, and soon they were one form, although nothing could be discerned because of the light. It soon began to shrink, and it was the light vanished.

It revealed a long, broadsword. It looked very advanced, and was a glowing silver. From the handle resembled the neck of the Cyber Dragon, and the blade left it through its gaping mouth. The smaller heads of the two Cyber Dragons sprouted out as the pommels.

"It's formed the Cyber Heaven Blade, which I instantly equip to Gilford!" The lightning warrior's regular blade disappeared, and it reached forward and snatched the new weapon out of the air with a single flourish. The warrior was glowing so brightly that Dartz was forced to shield his eyes.

"Damn it…." Joey grinned in response. "This boosts Gilford's attack points by fifteen hundred to start with." The large warrior's attack points increased to a formidable forty-three hundred. It was now stronger than the Orichalcos Chaos Phoenix.

"Now, it gives him an additional three hundred for every card in your hand." Dartz had four, which meant Gilford now had a deadly fifty-five hundred attack points.

"Finally, it also gives it the ability to negate all magic and trap cards until the damage step ends, which means your birdie is dead! Attack with Thunderbolt Heaven Sword!" Gilford was glowing so much that it seemed like it was going to explode.

With a growl, it raised its new weapon, and strikes of lightning began to hit it. Without warning, it slammed the blade into the ground, which erupted with lightning. It catapulted Gilford into the air, and he was flung in the direction of the Orichalcos Chaos Phoenix. With a roar, he buckled his knees and with a single slash he cleaved the bird cleanly in half. He landed neatly in a crouch on Dartz's field, just as the two halves disintegrated.

Gilford smirked at Dartz, and returned to Joey's field.

"I end my turn with one card facedown."

(Dartz: 3700, Joey: 7100, Zane: 0)

Dartz drew slowly, and exploded into maniacal laughter. "Impressively, you two destroyed two such powerful creatures. But it comes to nothing. Here goes Forceful Gift, which allows me to increase your monster's attack points by half my life-points, although I get to draw three cards." (7350/1400)

Joey gave him a strange look. "You kinda'… really helped me, ya' know that?"

Dartz picked off the next three cards, and didn't bother to look at them. "Finally, I play Armageddon Lightning, which will deal you damage equal to the attack points of a monster on your field, and destroy the monster, although I must sacrifice my battle phase for the next two turns!"

Joey fell to his knees in shock. He had worked so hard for it… But it came to nothing. Dartz had won.

A bolt of black lightning struck Gilford, and vaporized him. Joey felt a sharp pain in his chest as his life-points were drained. "_Serenity…_" That was Joey Wheeler's last thought before the Seal of Orichalcos took him.

(Dartz: 3700, Joey: 0, Zane: 0)

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**Next turn sees the climax of the Tea vs. Anubis duel, and Dartz's next challengers step up to have their turn against the terrible Prince of Atlantis.**

**Also, I'd like the others to answer on the poll about which was their favorite duel. Personally, I had the most fun writing the three on three duel that was all condensed into one, huge chapter.**

**Btw, Metal Overlord 2.0, I hope you review this time! Your huge reviews really give me ideas.**

**Anyway, cya guys! REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	39. Boulevard of Broken Dreams

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: Boulevard of Broken Dreams

**Well, I've kept with my recent habit of updating every three days. I could've updated yesterday, but I wanted to make this one really big, and also wanted to get a certain part of the two duels done.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Well, I hope Best Buy is able to fix up your computer soon enough. Thanks a lot for the huge review. I've got that sicko with a food deck fixed up for a date with a good guy in the sequel, seeing as it would be strange to introduce a character like that when the story is so near the climax. Your compliments about my duels are truly appreciated. These duels wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't read fics by Seeker of the Soul and Wolf General, two authors who have really inspired me. In fact, I have a special announcement considering the latter author at the bottom, so check it out when you finish the chapter. As for your story, I checked it out, and the only criticism I have is that its just a duel fic. I'd really like to see a fully-fledged story behind it… But excellent work on it, anyway. Thanks again for the comments. Oh and btw… Orochi is going to make his appearance soon, **_**very**_** soon. Let's just say a certain Pharaoh is going to have to match a snake god with a dragon god…. No, I'm not kidding. You have no idea how I'm waiting to write that part.**

**Mysticlife: Well, I'll probably end up writing the what-if fic, but not just right now. The sequel to this story, dubbed YGO! Nightrise, should be up and running perhaps two or three weeks after this one is done. Tea's behavior is going to be explained soon, don't worry.**

**Mystralwind: Yes, I'm afraid Joey is gone. As for Kaiba and Bakura stepping in on Tea vs. Anubis… Read on…**

**Princess Yunariana: Here's another one for your reading pleasure, m'lady. Enjoy it, lol.**

**Oh, and the chapter title belongs to Greenday, so don't sue me.**

Anubis drew slowly, and grinned. "I don't need effects to beat you. You see, Angel 07 will only negate those effects that are resolved on the field. You see, Dark Tyrant – Ultima allows me to remove it from play, in order to double the attack points of one demon monster on the field. So I summon Traitor Knight of Light (1800/1500)!"

A knight appeared, covered in white armor. However, although he gave of a bright light, it still looked evil. Perhaps it was the long saber it held in one hand, dripping with an unhealthy-looking, black fluid. Perhaps it was the shining, blank, cruel eyes beneath its cowl. Either way, it looked like a nasty piece of work.

"Now I remove Dark Tyrant – Ultima, in order to boost my Traitor Knight of Light's attack points to thirty-six hundred!" Tea's eyes widened as the knight began to give off waves of black power.

"Attack with Blade of Betrayal!" The soldier gave a shriek, and rushed towards the silver angel, who flapped its wings with all its might, in an attempt to throw the knight off. But it was useless, and the angel was cut down, and it shattered.

(Tea: 36400, Anubis: 1600)

Anubis gave her a grim smile. "One third of your total negation strategy has been dismantled. Unfortunately, Traitor Knight of Light falls to his original level of strength (1800/1500). I set one card facedown end my turn for now. You are not invincible, mortal."

Tea bit her lip and drew. She smiled. It was a bright smile, one that sent shivers down Anubis' spine. He knew that this girl was no ordinary duelist. But her combos were insane, and she could go toe to toe with him as well as Kaiba.

"I refuse to pay seven hundred life-points, so Imperial Order is destroyed." The continuous magic card exploded, and Tea continued to smile.

"The duel ends now Anubis. And I mean, _now._" She held up Monster Reborn.

Anubis' eyes bulged. "NOT POSSIBLE!"

"Oh, it's very possible, Anubis. I play Monster Reborn in order to revive the Winged Dragon of Ra (?/?)!!"

Slowly, the room began glowing golden due to a large golden sphere descended into the room. All eyes went to the sphere as it finally slowed and hovered above the field.

"Since it's currently locked in its sphere form, I must recite the ancient text written on the card to bring it back to its full power."

"_Impossible_!" panicked Anubis. "_She shouldn't be able to control Ra! Its far too powerful!_"

Closing her eyes, she calmly reopened them and slowly said _"__Great beast of the sky, please hear my cry. Transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight. Envelop the desert with your glow and cast your rage upon my foe. Unlock your powers from deep within so that together we may win. Appear in this Shadow Game as I call your name, Winged Dragon of Ra!"_

While the angel duelist recited the chant, slowly, the sphere began to unlock and the mighty dragon began to take form. Once the chant had finished, a large golden dragon that looked to be made of metal, appeared onto the field. It had a massive wing spread, extremely sharp looking claws and talons, a powerful tail, and a massive head. (0 500 500/0)

The dragon let out a terrifying roar, causing the knight on Anubis' field to shiver in fright. Anubis seemed afraid too. Marik had nearly killed him with this god card during his duel with Kagemaru… Was it possible… Just slightly possible that this Gardner girl was capable of doing the same?

Tea seemed to have no problem maintaining this invincible creature on her field. The only sign of difficulty that her body showed was the slight tightening of her jaws as she spoke, and a small bead of sweat that was trickling down the side of her face.

She was acting completely normal though, and she lazily moved a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Since Ra has been revived from the graveyard, it has zero attack points. I can quickly remedy that. I sacrifice all but one of my life-points to Ra."

Tea grunted in pain and clutched her chest as the mighty god began to glow. Its attack points began to shoot up, and didn't look like they were going to stop.

Anubis watched in horror as her life-points fell in perfect sync with the god's rising attack points. Finally, she let out a gasp as her life-points hit one. Meanwhile, Ra (36899/36399) let out a roar that shook the shadows, and made the elder gods themselves tremble.

"Attack his pathetic knight with Blaze Cannon!"

Letting out a massive roar, an arch of the dragon's back began glowing brightly. Slowly, a large golden sphere of energy began forming within the arch. The energy soon began to go down wire like structures into the dragon's mouth, causing a powerful golden glow to begin forming. Opening its jaws fully, the dragon spat the energy blast from its jaws, sending a golden beam straight at the heavily armored knight.

In the blink of an eye, the blast tore through the knight. At that second, Anubis burst out laughing.

"This is just excellent! I discard Kuriboh (300/200) to reduce all damage to zero!" A huge wall of furballs appeared in the way of the blast. They weren't like the regular Kuribohs, however. They had huge fangs, and their eyes reflected anything but innocence.

They were torn apart by the blast, and Anubis continued to laugh. "Perfect… How classic! The most powerful god was stopped by a _Kuriboh_! A _Kuriboh_!"

Tea couldn't bring herself to accept it. Ra had been stopped! This was impossible.

She took a breath as the massive wall of furballs was completely decimated, and the dragon ceased its attack. "I was prepared. Do you think I would make such a move without backup? I activate De-Fusion, which has a very good application under these circumstances. According to technical Duel Monsters rules, I am technically fused with the Winged Dragon of Ra at this point. That's exactly why I can activate De-Fusion to reduce Ra's attack points to zero and increase my life-points by Ra's attack points."

A small golden glow enveloped the field momentarily. Anubis' laughter continued. "I chain Magic Jammer! I discard a card from my hand to negate De-Fusion!"

The glow instantly disappeared to reveal a mortified Tea. "No…"

Anubis gave her a cruel look. "Did you honestly believe that it was within your capabilities to defeat the God of Death?"

Tea didn't even have to voice the end of her turn. She had nothing to use right now to block attacks, and her only hope of survival was that Anubis didn't draw a monster. If he did… It was over.

Ra disappeared as her turn came to an end.

Anubis drew. "The duel is over. I play Monster Reborn, to revive Kuriboh (300/200)." The vicious creature appeared on the field. "As you can see, I prefer a much more demonic and useful Kuriboh than the Pharaoh. Kuriboh, attack with Demon Slam!"

The tiny furball wailed in anger, and its body slammed into Tea. She didn't say a thing as her one life-point vanished. Her eyes were completely glazed over as Anubis exploded into laughter, while the Seal began to contract around her.

(Tea: 0, Anubis: 1600)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dartz glared coldly at the two prone forms. Idiotic fools, to believe they could defeat him.

At that second, he felt it. The Dead Duelists had been defeated. He smiled; a cheerful and terrifying smile at the same time. This meant that that there would be new challengers.

The door burst open, to reveal four, very angry figures. One was the tall, imposing and sleek form of Seto Kaiba. Then came the vicious and deadly Ryou Bakura. Dartz was surprised to see two teenagers as well, one of whom was his ex-employee, Kevin Hunter.

He looked at the foursome. "So… How did you enjoy dueling my Dead Duelists?"

"It was boring," snarled Kaiba. Dartz raised an eyebrow. "Well, join the party. Your friends were hardly a challenge." He motioned disdainfully towards the soulless forms of Joey and Zane.

Kaiba's eyes widened. "Wheeler… Truesdale…" His face broke out into a horrible snarl. Bakura didn't seem to care less, and neither did Kevin. However, Kyle looked at the two, and glared at Dartz. He slowly bent down and moved the two to the side of the room.

At that second, Kaiba activated his Duel Disk.

"You're not exactly into waiting are you? I could always offer you some wine before we duel, or perhaps-…"

"Cut the crap," spat Kevin. "Oh… It seems like you have betrayed us. Very well, I'll give you an extra painful death then."

Dartz gave him a withering look and continued, "I'd like this to be interesting, and since I know facing any one of you won't be a challenge, I want to face you two at a time. When one falls another may step forward to replace him or her. The replacement will begin with the same number of cards as they person they replaced held, but drawn from their own deck. They will not be able to use the effect of the deck first person used. They will however start with full life points."

In answer, Kevin activated his Duel Disk and fired off the holo projectors.

Bakura stepped forward as well, but Kaiba held out a hand to stop him. "Let me and Hunter duel now. If one of us loses, let Gardner step in. You should duel him at end, he'll be quite tired by then."

The Thief King grunted, but knew that Kaiba's words made sense. He would be able to strike quickly and lethally at the end, putting an end to the Dartz's insanity forever.

Kaiba glanced at Kevin briefly, and spoke quietly but coldly. "Listen up, Hunter. I don't care what ridiculous grudge you have against me, but you better pull your act together this time. If you try any crap, I'll make you wish you were never born."

Kevin gave him a brief nod. He didn't blame the CEO for being suspicious. Dartz was a man who killed without a thought. When facing such an opponent, one had to sure of his allies as well as his foes.

(Kaiba: 8000, Kevin: 8000, Dartz: 8000)

Kaiba took his turn first. He chuckled. "I'll begin by summoning my Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode!"

The ogre-like creature with olive skin appeared. It was beastly, with a wide jaw filled with fangs. In its hands was clutched a long pole with a curved blade at either end.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn," finished Kaiba.

Kevin immediately drew. "Bah! I'll crush you with my sheer power. I summon the Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500/1100)!" A long, pink serpentine beast appeared on the field. In fact, it looked like a translucent dragon from Chinese mythology.

"I activate the special ability of the Divine Dragon Soldier (1800/1500) in my hand. When there's a Divine Dragon Ragnarok, or a Divine Dragon Excelion (1500/900) on the field, I can instantly special summon him." A man in shining silver armor made to look somewhat like the mighty dragon, bearing a large shield made of the scales of the same beast. It also held a long spear in one hand.

"Ragnarok Soldier gives all cards level six or lower dragons three hundred more attack points." The long dragon growled and glowed with divine energy as its attack points rose up to eighteen hundred. "I end my turn."

Dartz drew, and chuckled. Perhaps he would change his strategy from the pure beatdown he had used against those two fools. Kaiba and Hunter seemed to play it more prudent, so he would use a new strategy. One that they would never expect. After all, he had made a few changes to his deck after defeating his first two challengers.

"I'll have you know that you two will be facing a far more powerful strategy than I used against those two, or against Marik Ishtar."

Kaiba and Kevin didn't seem worried.

"I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Very well. Vorse Raider, attack with Rage of the Mad Beast!" The ogre screeched and took of across the field. With a howl, it brought its axe down upon the facedown monster. The card flipped over the instant razor sharp metal came into contact with it.

"My Knight of Immortality (300/2400) is far too strong for your Vorse Raider to destroy." The monster was a handsome knight dressed in white armor. It held a huge oak shield, and had a small dagger on its belt. The Vorse Raider's axe had been blocked by the shield.

Suddenly, the Knight of Immortality grunted, and pushed back with its shield. The ogre was thrown back, and it groaned (950/1200). Seemingly, its power had fallen. "When it is attacked by a monster, that monster's attack points are halved when the damage step ends," laughed Dartz.

Kaiba frowned, and held up another card. "All right. I end my turn."

(Kaiba: 7500, Kevin: 8000, Dartz: 8000)

Kevin drew slowly. "I sacrifice Divine Dragon Ragnarok for the Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400)!" Another dragon appeared, this one with green skin and blue eyes. "My Ragnarok Soldier immediately gives it three hundred bonus attack points!" The new dragon had its attack points rise to twenty-seven hundred.

"Obliterate his Knight of Immortality with Emerald Flame!" Slowly the large beast began to flap its wings, each beat picking up speed and power until it was generating gale force winds, and with those winds were dozens of curved, emerald green energy blades. The blades sliced through the Knight of Immortality, which gave a groan of pain as it was shattered.

Immediately the Luster Dragon #2 groaned in pain and its strength fell to thirteen hundred and fifty. "And what's more, Knight of Immortality increases my life-points by one thousand when he leaves play," chuckled Dartz.

Kevin bit his lip. "It was worth it to weaken my Luster Dragon #2, because now Ragnarok Soldier can attack you directly!" The soldier gave a battle-cry, and threw its spear across the field. It hit Dartz's shoulder, and he didn't even wince as his life-points fell. "I activate Knight of Immortality's effect from the graveyard, removing him from play to halve any life-point damage done to me this turn."

Kevin grimaced as the impressive amount of damage that he would have been able to do was reduced to a minimal amount. "Damn…" he growled.

"I can't manage anything else. I'm forced to end my turn."

(Kaiba: 7500, Kevin: 8000, Dartz: 8100)

Dartz drew. Strangely enough, he hadn't gotten the Seal yet… But hey, he didn't need it at this point. "I summon Orichalcos Spirit Jackal (1200/1800) in attack mode!" A jackal in human form appeared, wearing green robes. It was riding another jackal, and held a long staff.

"It may be weaker than Hunter's Soldier, but its far stronger than that pathetic Vorse Raider! Attack it now with Hellfire Blast!" The first jackal fired two identical beams of red energy at the ogre, from its eyes. The formerly powerful monster was hit on the chest, and it howled in pain before shattering.

"Next I activate my monster's special ability. I can special summon to the field any monster he destroys! So arise, my Vorse Raider!" Kaiba growled as he saw the wild beast-warrior appear on Dartz's field. It was taxing to see one of his favorite creatures under the control of such a psychopath.

"Now, it's still my battle-phase. So Vorse Raider, attack your former master directly with Rage of the Mad Beast!" The axe-wielding creature darted across the field, and leapt upon Kaiba. It was about to slash down, when Kaiba snarled.

"I activate Sakuretsu Armor, which will instantly destroy Vorse Raider!" Plates of metal emerged out of the thin air, and clapped themselves on, all over Kaiba. The ogre's attack bounced off the armor, and it was shattered.

Dartz didn't seem worried.

"Very well. I end my turn."

(Kaiba: 7250, Kevin: 8000, Dartz: 8100)

Kaiba drew, and grinned slightly. "All right. I summon Blade Knight (1600/1200)!" Another knight in silver armor appeared. It held a long sword, and its shield was rather small. It glared at Dartz through the visor in its helmet.

"Next I'll have it destroy Orichalcos Spirit Jackal and put an end to its threat!" The new soldier growled and rushed forward with its sword raised. With a cry of anger, it slashed down.

Dartz burst out laughing. "Sorry, Kaiba," he said silkily. "I can sacrifice Orichalcos Spirit Jackal at any time to special summon a monster with less than one thousand base attack points from my removed from play pile to the field. If you were attacking Spirit Jackal, then the attack is automatically redirected to my new monster. So please welcome back Knight of Immortality (300/2400) in defense mode!"

The deadly knight reappeared in the jackal's place, just in time to block the sword of the oncoming soldier. It was pushed back with its shield. Kaiba grunted as he took more damage, and his Blade Knight's (800/1200) attack points fell as well.

"Damn it…. I set one card facedown and end," swore Kaiba, glaring at Dartz. He hoped Kevin would be able to draw something strong enough to destroy Dartz's accursed Knight of Immortality.

(Kaiba: 6450, Kevin: 8000, Dartz: 8100)

"My move." Kevin snapped the top card off his deck.

"I summon Luster Dragon (1900 300 2200/1600) in attack mode!" A sapphire dragon with strong powerful arms and legs, bone like wings, and ruby colored eyes appeared onto the field with a small roar.

Kaiba's eyes nearly fell out. "What was the point of that?! It can't destroy his idiotic knight, and you know it."

Kevin smirked at him. "Hold on. I activate Ambush Shield, which allows me to sacrifice a monster on the field and add its defense points to one monster's attack points. I sacrifice my weakened Luster Dragon #2, to Luster Dragon!" The green dragon disappeared, and the stronger dragon (3600/1600) growled as it glowed with new power.

"Destroy his Knight of Immortality with Ruby Blaster!" Letting out a small roar, the dragon opened it's jaws as ruby energy filled came beaming out. With a simple spitting motion, the dragon released a sphere of ruby colored energy, which quickly went flying across the field.

Dartz's knight attempted to block the blast, but it tore through his shield and destroyed him.

"Don't forget… I gain one thousand life-points. As always, your monster's attack points are reduced to a measly eighteen hundred." Kevin didn't bother to wait for Dartz to complete his sentence as he ordered Ragnarok Soldier to attack Dartz's life-points directly.

"I remove Knight of Immortality from play to halve the damage." Kevin growled in anger as his monster's attack was foiled for the second time.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

(Kaiba: 6450, Kevin: 8000, Dartz: 8100)

Dartz drew, and chuckled. He still hadn't gotten the Seal, but he didn't need it. All he had to do was make sure he had it on the field when he defeated them, so that their souls would be his.

"I summon Orichalcos Poltergeist Baron (1800/1300) in attack mode!" The new monster looked like a duke in all his finest silk attire. Strangely enough, he had a very haunting look about him, and sometimes, he didn't hold the light. He smoothly drew a sword, and glared at his master's enemies.

"Now, he lets me discard a card to special summon one monster in my graveyard that has less attack points than him. I choose my almighty Orichalcos Spirit Jackal (1200/1800)!" The strange monster reappeared on Dartz's field, and raised its staff again.

"Next I activate my Poltergeist Baron's special ability. By sacrificing it, I can double the attack points of one monster with base attack points of fifteen hundred or less till the end of the turn."

The jackal glowed with dark energy as its attack points rose to a more respectable twenty-four hundred. "Now, obliterate the Luster Dragon with Spirit Strike!" The dog-like monster fired out red beams from its eyes in the direction of Kevin's dragon. The dragon, which now had only eighteen hundred attack points, was nowhere near as strong as it should have been if it wanted to survive the attack.

Kevin growled as his dragon was destroyed. "Now, its special summoned to my field!" Dartz let out a thunderous laugh as the sapphire dragon appeared next to the jackal, on his field. Its eyes glowed as it roared at its former master (1900 300 2200/1600).

"Next, I can use Luster Dragon to attack Blade Knight!" The dragon opened its mouth, and spat out a sphere of blood red energy at the weaker knight. The latter attempted to slash the ball in half, but it was instantly shattered.

"I set one card facedown, and end my turn."

(Kaiba: 5050, Kevin: 7400, Dartz: 8200)

Kaiba drew, and gave a grin. "I remove my Vorse Raider from play, in order to special summon Vorse Blood Lord (2500/2300)!" The Vorse Raider reappeared on the field, a sick, bloodthirsty grin on its face. It let out a shrieked, and dropped its weapon. Grabbing its head in pain, it began to mutate. Muscles grew to a huge size as armor burst.

As the sickly metamorphosis finally ended, it raised its head. It was now about nine feet tall, and covered in jet black armor, and it looked a bit like a machine. However, the bloodlust and hunger in its eyes were very, very real. It held a huge, bloody axe that resembled that of an excecutioner. It had a blood red cape, and snarled at the sigh of Dartz.

"Well, I can't use his particularly useful effect at the moment, so I'll have him obliterate your Spirit Jackal!" The deadly new creature hefted up its axe, and ran across the field towards the dog-like beast.

"I activate Shift, redirecting your attack to the Luster Dragon!" Suddenly, a magical force through the dragon in the way of the attack of the towering beast-warrior. It barely had time to screech in pain before the axe lopped off its head.

Suddenly, Kevin grunted in pain. "What the-…?"

(Kaiba: 5050, Kevin: 7100, Dartz: 8200)

"The effect of Spirit Jackal states that whenever a monster that it had brought under my control is destroyed, all battle damage is directed to the original owner of that monster. Did you think I'd take damage when his monster is destroyed? Foolish!"

Kaiba snarled in anger. Dartz's defense was unbreakable!

"I… end my turn by playing one facedown card."

Kevin drew. Right now, all he had was his one, weak monster, Ragnarok Soldier (1800/1500). It would be wiser to summon something stronger if he was to defeat Dartz.

"I sacrifice Ragnarok Soldier to summon my Kaiser Glider (2400/2200)!" A gold covered creature which looked to be more like a massive bird that dragon appeared, screeching into the air.

"Now, it's time to go on the offensive! I attack Orichalcos Spirit Jackal with Kaiser Glider!" He said this even as Kaiba shouted in protest.

The large beast raised its head and released a ball of yellow light that sped toward Dartz's strange creature. "You idiot! He'll use it to summon Knight of Immortality!" roared Kaiba. Kevin paled at his mistake. How could he forget something like that?

"I sacrifice Orichalcos Spirit Jackal in order to special summon Knight of Immortality (300/2400) in defense mode!" The handsome warrior reappeared, and repelled the bird-like wyvern with its large shield. However, neither monster was hurt, as the Knight's defense points were equal to the dragon's attack points.

Meanwhile, Kevin grunted in frustration as his previously powerful dragon's attack points fell to a mere twelve hundred. This was getting way out of hand. Dartz had to be stopped, in some way or another.

Kaiba glared at Kevin. "I thought I told you not to screw up!" Kevin knew that it was better not to answer that statement. He silently ended his turn with a facedown card.

Dartz drew slowly. He didn't need to rush, he was far in the lead. His unbreakable defense had put him ahead of these two pathetic challengers. If he kept this up, he would burn their life-points away to nothing without a single attack. That was, unfortunately, wishful thinking. He was willing to acknowledge Kaiba's prowess as a deadly duelist. But they were nothing to him.

"I set a monster in defense mode, and also play Gambit of Battle. This flips all my face-up monsters into facedown defense mode, and then their places are shuffled, so that my monster card zone is completely reset."

Another holographic, brown-backed card appeared, and the Knight of Immortality was flipped facedown. The two cards were raised into the air, and they began to move so fast that the duelists were unable to see them moving. Finally, they settled down, and came to a rest on Dartz's field. He gave them a chilling smile, and ended his turn.

Kaiba bit his lip. If he attacked the wrong monster, it meant that he would lose even more life-points. He closed his eyes, and drew.

He snapped them opened, and grinned. "Time for destruction! I summon Kaibaman (200/700) in attack mode!" A humanoid monster appeared. It had wild orange hair, and black headgear that also covered its eyes. Otherwise, it looked remarkably like Kaiba himself.

"Next I sacrifice him to special summon my almighty Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!!" The massive white dragon with shining blue eyes appeared. Its wings flapped out, and it roared at Dartz with all its might.

"Brute force never impresses me, Seto Kaiba. Just make your move," said Dartz coolly.

"With pleasure," sneered Kaiba. "Vorse Blood Lord, attack the creature on the left!" The insane creature screeched, and rushed forward while hefting up its axe. With a single blow, it cut the other monster in half. Dartz sounded gleeful.

"Excellent! You destroyed Knight of Immortality, which means that your creature loses twelve hundred and fifty attack points. And of course, I gain one thousand life-points." Kaiba didn't care. He had gotten that menace off the field, and he would now destroy the other monster.

"Blue Eyes, destroy his monster with White Lightning!" The pearly white dragon roared, and charged up a sphere of white energy in its mouth, and let lose a torrent of pure power in the direction of the facedown card.

As it hit, the card flipped over to reveal a beautiful, raven-haired woman. She was dressed in purple robes, but her eyes reflected oddly, shocking malevolence. She glared before the Blue Eyes destroyed her. "A shame. You destroyed Goddess of Deception (1000/2000). When she's destroyed, I can take control of the monster that destroyed it. Come to me, Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

"NO!" cried Kaiba in shock, as his prized monster whimpered in pain as an external force waged war on its mind. It was only able to stand up to the magic for so long, and it soon flew over to Dartz's field, where it roared at its former master, whose eyes bulged.

"You… I WILL KILL YOU!" roared the young CEO.

Even Kevin seemed furious. The Blue Eyes White Dragon was a great beast, no matter the fact that Kaiba was using it. How dare Dartz take control of such a fine creature?

Kaiba closed his eyes, and opened them to reveal fury. "I swear to God… When its my turn again, I'm going to make you wish you were never born!"

(Kaiba: 5050, Kevin: 7100, Dartz: 9100)

Kevin drew slowly. "I switch Kaiser Glider to defense mode and end my turn." The golden dragon fell into a crouch and crossed its wings across itself. At this point, it was safer to defend then launch a futile offense against a monster as powerful as the mighty Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Dartz drew, and laughed at the card. "How incredible! I activate Monster Reborn, to bring back Orichalcos Spirit Jackal (1200/1800)!" Kevin groaned as the dog-headed monster appeared again. Just what they needed.

"I activate Orichalcos Draining Might! I can transfer any amount of attack points from one monster on the field to an Orichalcos monster, until the turn ends. So I drain Kaiba's Blue Eyes of five hundred attack points, and boost my Spirit Jackal to seventeen hundred!" The jackal glowed as its power increased.

"Now, I can use Orichalcos Spirit Jackal to destroy your Vorse Blood Lord!" Dartz's deadly monster fired out a pair of red beams from its eyes, which caused the huge beast-warrior to cry out in pain before it finally shattered.

"Its instantly special summoned to my field, at its original level of strength!" The terrible Vorse Blood Lord (2500/2300) appeared on Dartz's field, and along with the Blue Eyes, they roared at their former master.

"Now, I can use my Blue Eyes and Vorse Blood Lord to attack your life-points directly!" Kaiba was mortified as the dragon fired off a torrent of blazing white energy at him, while the bestial warlord tore across the field, ready to cut him down with its axe. Kaiba had expected to play a big part in this final duel, but here he was… about to lose already.

He gasped in pain as the axe-wielding creature slashed him full across the chest. His thick trench coat bore the brunt of the attack, but it was a painful blow nonetheless. He looked sadly ahead at the oncoming blast, and felt like screaming in protest, when a bunch of golden, winged furballs appeared and took the blast.

"I discarded my Golden Kuriboh Dragon (300/200) to reduce all damage to zero," chuckled Kevin. "I may think Kaiba is an arrogant jerk, but I'm going to need his help to defeat you. I never got revenge for your attempt to kill me when we first met."

Kaiba was about to snap at Kevin, but stopped himself. He needed to keep things friendly if they were to defeat Dartz by working together.

He muttered a word of thanks to Kevin, and glared back at Dartz. "Continue your pathetic move!"

There was nothing for Dartz to do, so he ended his turn.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 7100, Dartz: 9100)

Kaiba drew slowly. He glanced at Kevin, who spoke slowly. "Make your move; don't worry. I have a plan."

Kaiba shrugged. "I set a monster in defense mode, and one card facedown. I end my turn." Two brown-backed cards appeared behind Kaiba.

Kevin snapped the next card off his deck. "I play Pot of Greed." He picked the next two cards off his deck and chuckled at the sight of it.

"Excellent! Golden Kuriboh Dragon's effect activates. When he's discarded, I can special summon him to the field during my main phase." The golden furball appeared. It resembled a normal Kuriboh, other than the color. Attached to its back was a pair of two, large, silver wings, and it cooed upon reaching the field.

"Next I equip it Kuriboh Force, which can only be equipped to Golden Kuriboh Dragon, and lets me pay half my life-points to raise the attack points of my Golden Kuriboh Dragon by 10000!" Dartz gasped in shock. This was the first real move in the entire duel that his opponents had made, that seemed to impress him.

The Golden Kuriboh Dragon let out a wail of confusion as it began to grow. It didn't stop growing until it was about the size of the Blue Eyes White Dragon (10300/200). "Now, I'll use it to destroy your Orichalcos Spirit Jackal! Golden Force!"

Kaiba, Kyle and Bakura were all very impressed by this move of Kevin's. The Golden Kuriboh Dragon wailed again, and it began to glow with golden energy. With a burst of speed, he crashed into the Orichalcos Spirit Jackal.

Dartz countered immediately. "I remove my Knight of Immortality from play to halve the damage!" It didn't matter, of course. The dog-headed creature was completely shattered by the attack, and the Golden Kuriboh Dragon flew around Dartz's field before returning to Kevin.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 3550, Dartz: 4800)

"What's more, Kuriboh Force will stay in play as long as I continue to pay half my life-points every standby phase," chuckled Kevin. Dartz seemed a bit irritated.

"It was a bad move to destroy my monster. I'll have to eliminate my plans to give you a quick and painless death. You have something horrible coming towards you… Kevin Hunter."

"Yeah, yeah, tell it to the judge," chuckled Kevin.

"I end my turn."

Dartz picked the next card off his deck with almost surgical presicion. He smiled brightly, and it sent a shiver down Kaiba's spine. "He's drawn it," the CEO warned Kevin, who grimaced. He knew exactly what Kaiba was talking about.

"Your souls will be mine! I play the unstoppable field spell, the Seal of Orichalcos!" Kevin's eyes widened as a green barrier started to spring up around them, and a five pointed star within a strange circle appeared around them. He watched Dartz's eyes lit up with glee as an identical symbol appeared on his forehead.

"You knew this would happen sooner or later," grunted Kaiba.

The Blue Eyes (2500 500 3000/2500) and the Vorse Blood Lord (2500 500 3000/2300) were much stronger because of it.

"Next I pay one thousand life-points to special summon Knight of Control (1500 500 2000/2000) in defense mode!" A new knight clad in black armor appeared on the field. It held a long sword, and its eyes seemed to look like swirling galaxies and star systems. It had a long, flowing cape.

"He lets me sacrifice one monster per turn, in order to increase my life-points by the sacrificed monster's attack points. So I send the Blue Eyes White Dragon to my graveyard, in order to boost my life-points to a level near my starting level!"

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 3550, Dartz: 6800)

The dragon disappeared, and Dartz's life-points soared. Kaiba sneered. "I'd prefer my it for the Blue Eyes to be in the graveyard than in the hands of filth such as yourself." "I switch Vorse Blood Lord to defense mode, and end my turn." The beast-warrior dropped into a kneeling stance, and crossed its arms across its chest.

Kaiba drew slowly. "I activate White Dragon Ritual, which lets me sacrifice my monster to special summon Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200)!" A white-clad knight wielding a razor sharp blade appeared on what looked like a small Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"Next I play Book of Moon, flipping your Vorse Blood Lord into facedown defense position." The beast-warrior grunted, as if under pressure. Suddenly, it fell over and was replaced by a brown-backed card.

"Now, for the ace of my combo. Paladin of White Dragon destroys facedown monsters regardless of their defense points. Obliterate his Fiend Skull Paladin with Ionic Spear Burst!" With a sonic screech, the Paladin shot forwards at the speed of a Concorde.

It began to glow, and was soon surrounded by a sphere of energy. The paladin's sword grew into a lance, and together, rider and steed crashed into the facedown card. It flipped up, and the paladin continued on to fly right through the Vorse Blood Lord. It emerged out the other side, and the corpse of the fiendish warrior disappeared.

"Now, I sacrifice it to special summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) from my deck!" The paladin disappeared, and its steed grew in size until it resembled the Kaiba's trademark beast.

Kaiba chuckled. "I end my turn."

Kevin drew slowly, and grunted. "_Damn! If I only had a monster with more than two thousand attack points, I could have destroyed his Knight of Control and attacked directly with Golden Kuriboh Dragon for game. Unfortunately, I will be unable to pay half my life-points next turn, so this is all a waste of time. I think its time for Golden Kuriboh Dragon to go_," he thought.

He looked at the new card, and grinned. "I play Polymerization, fusing Golden Kuriboh Dragon and Kaiser Glider to summon Flux Dragon – Kaiser Kuriboh (2800/1500)!" The two dragons were pulled into a vortex, and it began to spin. A new form began to emerge from it.

It was a considerably large golden dragon, with spikes running all across its spine, from the base of its head to the end of its tail. It was covered in tough armor, and it glared at Dartz. It seemed to be surrounded by different kinds of multicolored vortexes.

"When he's summoned, I can pick a dragon from my deck and add it to my hand." He found the necessary card and shuffled his deck. "Flux Dragon, destroy his Knight of Control!" The fusion monster growled, and spat out a blast of purple energy at the knight. It howled in pain as it tried to fend off the blast, to no avail.

Dartz grimaced, but then grinned again. "When Knight of Control is destroyed, I can let you draw one card, while I gain three thousand life-points."

Kevin was happy to get an extra draw, but the side of Dartz's sky-rocketing life-points was unpleasant, least to say.

"I also set a card facedown before ending my turn."

A brown-backed card appeared behind the large Flux Dragon – Kaiser Kuriboh.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 7100, Dartz: 9800)

Dartz drew. "I summon Orichalcos Shadow – Moonlight Assassin (1800 500 2300/1200)!" A man in a black bodysuit appeared. He was surprisingly handsome, but his long, and deadly dagger said otherwise. It gave a sarcastic bow to Kaiba and its eyes glowed red.

"Rather than beatdown strategy I used against Truesdale and Wheeler, this one is truly deadly," chuckled Dartz.

"I set one card facedown, and end my turn."

Kevin gave him a strange look. "Why would you summon such a weak monster in attack mode? It's nothing to my Flux Dragon."

Dartz ignored him.

Kaiba drew, and gave a grin. "Blue Eyes, obliterate his Moonlight Assassin! White Lightning!" The huge white dragon roared, and let lose a torrent of white energy at the assassin.

"You think I'd let my monster be destroyed so easily? I activate its ability. By sending a level three or lower Orichalcos monster from my deck to the graveyard, I can gain increase its attack points by those of the discarded monster. So I choose to send Orichalcos Torture Brute (1500/1200) to the graveyard, in order to increase it to such a level of power that it's stronger than the Blue Eyes White Dragon! Counter with Killer Aura!"

The now deadly monster (3800/1200) growled and leapt straight into the torrent of power. It emerged unharmed, out the other end, and its dagger morphed into a sword. With a single slash, it lopped off the dragon's head. It landed neatly in a crouch on the other side, and smirked as the dragon's corpse disappeared before it hit the ground.

Kaiba's knuckles turned white. "Damn… My Blue Eyes!"

"Luckily for you, you don't take damage when I use this ability of Moonlight Assassin."

Kaiba grunted. "I play the Card of Demise. I draw from my deck until I hold five cards, but on my fifth turn after activation, I must discard all cards from my hand." He looked over his fresh hand, and considered.

"I set a monster facedown, and end my turn." The facedown monster appeared next to his facedown magic or trap card. He smirked at Kevin, and motioned for him to continue.

Kevin drew, and considered. The Moonlight Assassin's attack points were back to normal, but he didn't want to risk his Flux Dragon. He would have to crush it another way…

But that was the problem. He had no other ways to destroy it. He looked over his hand, thinking of combos. He _could_ equip his Flux Dragon with Dragon's Roar, which would boost its attack points to a massive thirty-six hundred. He could only hope that Dartz didn't have a level three monster in his deck with over fifteen hundred attack points. Of course, if he used Flux Dragon's effect, he could really benefit when it came to life-point gain. It was worth the risk.

"I equip my Flux Dragon with the magic card, Dragon's Roar! This boosts its attack points by eight hundred!" The fusion monster growled as its attack points rose to thirty-six hundred.

"Next, I'll use Flux Dragon to destroy your Moonlight Assassin!" he fusion monster growled, and spat out a blast of purple energy at the assassin. It grunted in an effort to fend off the attack, but it was to no avail.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 4050, Dartz: 9300)

"When Flux Dragon destroys a monster in battle, I gain life-points equal to the damage done," chuckled Kevin.

Dartz didn't seem worried. "Are you done?" Kevin glared at him for his flippant manner, and ended his turn by playing one facedown card.

The Prince of Atlantis drew, and as he did, a horrible smile spread across his face. "You should know, the Seal prevents you fools from playing field magic cards. Unfortunately for you, I don't have to pay the same penalty. Watch, as I combine Citadel of Atlantis with the Seal of Orichalcos, in order to create the new field magic card, Citadel of Darkest Light- Orichalcos!"

Something was rising up behind Dartz, something huge and awe inspiring.

It was a building, with domes and spires, a palace with palisades, towers, and a portcullis. The thing that made it unique was that it was glowing with an intense inner light. Suddenly, the light seemed to explode, and it took away the vision of all four duelists.

Strong winds began to blow, and the chaotic sounds made Dartz's voice seem very distant.

Kevin couldn't see a thing as the light grew even brighter. "What… the hell… is going on?" he grunted to no one in particular.

As the light began to subside, the foursome realized that they were definitely not in New York anymore.

The room was much bigger now, and was made up of slabs of sandstone instead of the regular material that comprised the Empire State Building. It had a huge throne at one end, and the ceiling was supported by pillars. The walls were covered with rich tapestries. It looked like a medieval castle.

Standing in one corner was Dartz himself. His Duel Disk was still active, and he was tapping his foot on the marble floor. Kevin and Kaiba were still surrounded by the Seal. They looked around and grimaced upon realizing what had happened.

"This is the palace, the citadel where I ruled when I was king of Atlantis!" said Dartz in an even tone.

Kaiba gave him a withering look. "So changing the scenery is all your new field magic card did? How pathetic!" Dartz glared at him.

"You fool! We're no longer in your backyard. This is my realm. You are at a most severe disadvantage here. The effects of the Citadel of Darkest Light- Orichalcos are innumerable. I do have to sacrifice a couple of things though. For one, the Citadel of Darkest Light- Orichalcos is not invincible, although it can only be destroyed when its hit by three destruction effects in one turn. But enough of that. To start off, I can draw three cards when its activated."

He glanced over his new hand. "I summon Knight of Death (1900 500 2400/1600)!" The new knight was dressed in blood red armor, and held a blade that was dripping blood. Its head revealed a face that would have been happen, but its eyes were glazed with the deranged look that could _only_ be present in those of a murderer. Its hair was unkempt and flapped down to its shoulders.

"Upon being summoned, Knight of Death destroys one monster on the field that's stronger than him. So I use him to destroy your pathetic Flux Dragon!" The insane soldier shrieked in madness, and tore across the field. It rammed its sword into the dragon's gut. The wyvern roared in pain, and spat out a purple blast at the knight, who was unaffected. It ripped the sword out, and the injured dragon fell dead to the ground.

"I compliment his ability with the might of my Citadel of Darkest Light- Orichalcos! I can reuse his effect at the cost of sacrificing his attack for the turn. So, my knight, obliterate Kaiba's facedown monster!" The insane knight once again shrieked and rushed forward. With a slash, it decapitated the facedown card, which happened to be Kaiba's Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300).

Dartz gave a crystalline laugh. It sounded like glass striking glass, with all the sharpness and danger of the glass included. "Another of my Citadel's effects activates. When one of your monsters is destroyed by an effect, I can discard two cards to special summon that monster to my field, in a new form. So please welcome Z- Angel Tank (1500 500 2000/1300)!"

The blue and yellow tank appeared. However, it had two strange angelic wings behind its cannons. It gave off an unnaturally bright light. This was definitely tainted light; light tainted by darkness.

Kevin face fell at the sight of the machine mixed with angelic parts, and Kaiba growled in anger. How dare Dartz do this to his monster?

"I can see you don't like this Kaiba, but trust me, you'd better get used to it. It's going to happen a lot these turns. Now, Z-Angel Tank's effect activates when he's summoned. I can add X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) or Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600) from either player's deck to my hand. I choose Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600)."

Kaiba was barely able to suppress his anger as he chucked the machine over the field to Dartz, who added it to his hand.

"Hmm… I activate my Citadel's effect. During my main phase, I can sacrifice any number of monsters to draw two cards for each monster."

Kevin and Kaiba watched in shock as the two monsters disappeared, and Dartz drew two more cards. "How many effects does this thing have?" snarled Kevin.

"Too many to count. You'll have the opportunity to worry about them later. Right now, I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Kaiba drew, and grinned. "Get ready to face true power, Dartz. I play Graceful Charity." He immediately drew three cards, only to discard two. "I sent my third Blue Eyes White Dragon to the graveyard, which means I can now play Dragon's Mirror, removing all three dragons from play to special summon my almighty Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!"

The silhouettes of three Blue Eyes White Dragons appeared on the field. The three roared and disappeared into a vortex. It was then that the ground began to shake. Zane threw his head up to see a giant dragon looming above him. It was a three-headed Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Dartz was impressed. "So, your fabled fusion finally emerges? But can it do much damage?" Kaiba snarled in anger. "I'll show you the true power of the Blue Eyes White Dragon! Attack with Neutron Blast!" The three-headed behemoth formed spheres of white energy in each mouth. Simultaneously, each one fired out an insanely large blast. They combined into one attack, which was about to crash into Dartz when he pressed a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate this facedown card, Orichalcos Eternal Emperor, which reduces all damage done this turn to zero." A figure identical to Dartz himself appeared, and absorbed the blast. Kaiba growled in anger.

Dartz gave him a smile, and chuckled, "A shame, isn't it?" Kaiba dropped his head. "I end my turn."

Kevin drew, his hand shaking. How on Earth were they meant to defeat Dartz when he had a field magic card of such insane power? Even Kaiba's most powerful fusion had been unable to put a dent in his life-points, which seemed to keep going up.

"I summon Diamond Soldier (2000/0) in attack mode!" A warrior in sparkling diamond armor appeared, hoisting up a great sword, the blade made of solid diamond.

"Attack with Diamond Blade!" The strange monster rushed forward and slashed Dartz across the chest. He didn't even seem to notice it. "I end my turn."

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 4050, Dartz: 7300)

Dartz drew, and smirked. "I play Revival Sphere! I can special summon one level four or lower monster from my graveyard now. I choose Z-Angel Tank!" The strange monster reappeared on his field. "His effect activates, allowing me to add X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) to my hand. So please, Kaiba, give me the card."

Kaiba snarled in anger and flung the final union monster into Dartz's hand. "Thank you very much. I now sacrifice Z-Angel Tank to draw another two cards." He looked over his entire hand.

"Excellent. I summon X- Heaven Cannon (1800 500 2300/1500) in attack mode!" The robot appeared, although it now had angelic wings. It was now white, as compared to its original colors of blue and yellow. The cannons were still present, and very deadly.

"X-Heaven Cannon lets me special summon Y- Holy Dragon (1500 500 2000/1600) from my hand!" A pearly white dragon appeared, with streaks of red along its body. Its wings were very angelic, and its claws were non-existent. Its roar seemed soothing, rather than angry.

"When Y- Holy Dragon is summoned, I can special summon Z- Angel Tank from my graveyard." The strange tank reappeared.

"Finally, I union all three monsters to summon XYZ- God Cannon (2800 500 3300/2600)!" The union monster was white and a light blue. The cannons of the various monsters glowed strangely, but only the dragon kept its angelic wings. The strange appearance of the machine was…. taxing, to someone serious.

"Next, I activate its new ability! I can add the attack points of a level four or lower monster to those of my XYZ- God Cannon. I choose X-Head Cannon!" The strange combo creature's attack points soared to fifty-one hundred, far above those of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

Kaiba took a step back. "No…" "Yes! Attack now with Heaven Blaze!" The dragon fired out a blast of pure energy from its mouth, while the tank and the robot followed it up with blasts from their respective cannons. The dragon was hit full on in the chest. It groaned in pain as the energy powered through it, and the three-headed behemoth shattered.

Kaiba glared at Dartz. "I swear to god… YOU WILL PAY!"

Dartz gave him a cold look. "Fool… The gods are on my side. Balance is essential. That can only be done with the sacred might of the Orichalcos. So you can try and defeat me with all your might, but it won't work, because Fate and Destiny will always be on my side."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami walked through the empty corridors, his footsteps echoing eerily. He looked a haunted figure; something that even hell would fear. The power that came off the body of the ancient Pharaoh was enough to send anything packing.

For Yami had had enough. Anubis would die.

He reached the door that led to the room that radiated Ra's energy signature. The doors were large and imposing, but Yami pushed them open without a thought. The room, was, surprisingly, brightly lit. Yami took a step in, and grimaced as he saw the imposing figure of Anubis standing in the middle.

The God of Death had a sick grin on his face. "Hello Pharaoh. I've been expecting you."

Yami narrowed his eyes. "Forget the pleasantries, Anubis."

Anubis put on a face of mock hurt. "I'm offended. We've known each other a long time… What, five thousand years?" In response, Yami glared.

"Well, before we begin this battle, I'd like to show you something." He smiled slightly and pointed to the far end of the room. Yami gasped in shock at the prone form of Tea Gardner.

He could hear Yugi screaming to take over, and his hikari's pain was hurting him more than the young man. But he knew how unsafe it was to let Yugi take over in Anubis' presence. Why, it was very possible that the despicable entity would use magic to kill Yugi unawares.

He slowly walked over to Tea, keeping his eyes on the God of Death. He knelt down and checked for a pulse. It was present, but when he looked into her eyes, he instantly knew that look. After all, who could forget the glazed over look present in the eyes of someone whose soul had been taken by the Seal of Orichalcos.

How could Tea have been so foolish as to steal both the Winged Dragon of Ra _and_ the Seal of Orichalcos? Controlling them was beyond her, and she knew it. Her dueling skills had grown, and he was sure that more practice would have allowed her to make an international impact. But it was nothing but foolish to challenge Anubis of all people.

He pulled her deck out of her Duel Disk, and found the two necessary cards. He put the Winged Dragon of Ra in his own deck, and was about to rip the Seal of Orichalcos in half, when Anubis fired out a blast of black flames at him.

Yami reflexively whirled around. There was no time to counter, or dodge. So, he decided to kill two birds with one stone, and flung the cursed card into the vortex of black fire. The unusual power of the Seal reacted badly to Anubis' hellish magic, and an explosion ensued. The attack was cancelled out, and the card was vaporized.

Yami stood up, and glared angrily. "If you want to fight, I'd be more than happy to give you a battle." With a single click, his Duel Disk slid into place. He glanced at Tea. She would be okay there. After defeating Anubis, he would check on her again.

Anubis gave him a withering look. His arm flashed with dark energy, and a demonic, black Duel Disk appeared on it. It had spikes protruding all around it, and the two card slots looked more like bat's wings than metal flaps. A deck was already in the deck slot.

"Honestly, Pharaoh, I often find myself reminiscing about the times we spent together in ancient Egypt," said the God of Death conversationally.

Yami grimaced. Those words made him think about the very first time he had met Anubis…

"Yes… Those were moments that would make history, were they not? It's crystal clear to me, even after all these years." Anubis' voice reflected the malice and cruelty of every single sinner rotting in hell

"I thirst for revenge. I want to crush your puny skull in my hands. I want to see the look of fright and sadness on your pathetic face when you realize that I was the one who destroyed your loved ones… I want to kill you," finished Anubis, a terrifying grin on his face. His eyes reflected rage.

If looks could kill, Anubis would have been six feet under. The look that Yami was giving him would have given Kaiba a heart attack. "You're the root of it all!" thundered the Pharaoh. "It's all your fault! I was meant to improve life for my subjects, help them live better lives! What did I get? I ended up fighting people like you and Bakura all the time! I was meant to empower good, not spend all my time protecting it! I will have my revenge as well! Ten years of my reign I spent trying to stop you from destroying Egypt! I will never have those years back, but I will at least have the satisfaction of utterly destroying you."

"Brave words, Pharaoh," said Anubis in a soft and dangerous voice. "Can your dueling match them?"

(Anubis: 8000, Yami: 8000)

Anubis drew his sixth card. "It's always a pleasure to work with such a fine opening hand… I set one card facedown, and compliment it with a monster in defense mode." The two brown-backed cards appeared in front of Anubis.

"You will not be facing the same strategy as your cheerleader. I have made adjustments to my deck since I defeated her, adjustments that will end your life!"

Yami was about to make his move when Anubis held up a hand. "I tire of this tiny room. Let's get some air, shall we?" Before Yami could answer, he extended a hand, and pointed it at the ceiling. There was an explosion of black energy, and the ceiling was blown to bits. They were on the eighty-ninth floor right now, and this left them exposed to sky.

Yami's adversary clenched his fist, and the Pharaoh felt the ground break off from the wall. Slowly, it began to rise. He held his ground on the rising slab of marble, which burst out through the hole, until the two found themselves on the top of the Empire State Building.

"Excellent place for a duel, isn't it?" said Anubis jovially, as the two climbed off the slab of marble and got onto the terrace. With a flick of his wrist, Anubis sent the marble flying off the terrace.

Each duelist was on one side of the terrace. The battle would continue, but now it would be nearly twelve hundred feet off the ground.

"I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600) in attack mode." The yellow, earthen creature appeared on his field. It really a magnet warrior, and everything was more realistic than it normally was. He could feel a magnetic force tugging on his Millennium Puzzle.

"Beta, attack his facedown monster with Magnet Strike!" The warrior moaned, and glided across the field to Anubis' facedown card. With a grunt, it struck the facedown card, which instantly exploded.

"Destroying Pyramid Turtle (1200/1400) was a foolish move! He lets me special summon a zombie with two thousand or less defense points from my deck to the field. I choose to summon Vampire King (2500/1900)!" A tall vampire dressed in a black cloak appeared. Its fangs were quite long, and it had deathly looking claws. It raised its pale face and glared at Yami.

"Think of him as one of the ultimate undead monsters. Anyway, please continue your move, Pharaoh."

"With pleasure. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Anubis immediately drew. "You now face the wrath of my Vampire King! Destroy his pathetic magnet warrior with Undead Swarm!" The vampire growled, and flung its cape out behind it, revealing a black tuxedo. It gave a cry, and a swarm of bats appeared behind it. They sped across the field towards Beta.

"I activate Command Silencer, which negates your attack and lets me draw one card." Yami chuckled as a large totem pole appeared on the field. It gave off a sonic wave of sound, which stopped the bats in their tracks. Yami drew slowly.

Anubis shrugged. "Very well. I set a card and end my turn."

Yami once again held six cards. "I equip Beta with Excalibur, which doubles his attack points as long as I skip my draw phase!" A long, gleaming sword with an innumerable number of jewels set in the pommel appeared on the field. Beta snatched it up in its magnet-like hands (3400/1600).

"Next I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500/1800)!" A pink metal magnet creature with strange wings, large pink feet, a big blue S on its chest, silver spring like arms, a magnet around its neck, and a strange pink head appeared onto the field, next to its brother.

"Beta, attack his Vampire King with Excalibur Holy Wave!" The magnet warrior slammed the sword into the ground, and it incited a massive wave of golden energy which surged towards the vampire, who was instantly shattered.

"When Vampire King is destroyed, I may destroy one magic or trap card on the field," chuckled Anubis. "So I choose to destroy your Excalibur!" The shining sword shattered.

Yami shrugged. The purpose was simply to get rid of Anubis' monster anyway. "Very well. Gamma, attack his life-points dire-…" He gasped suddenly, as he saw the Vampire King standing stock straight on Anubis' side of the terrace.

"I destroyed him!" snapped Yami.

"Indeed you did. However, I can discard a card from my hand in order to revive him from the graveyard with five hundred more attack points. So I'm afraid that you wasted your equip card." (3000/1900)

Yami was not amused. "So… It must be revived from your graveyard? Very well. I activate Dark Core, which allows me to discard one card to remove your accursed creature from play. I've just discarded Repayment of Losses, which means I draw one more card."

Anubis sighed as his vampire exploded.

"I end my turn." It was the best Yami could do. He already had Gamma and Beta on the field, and good fortune had given him Alpha in his opening hand. His best bet was to sit tight and hope to draw Valkyrion soon, and then all he had to do was hit his despicable opponent with a couple of attacks in order to win.

"End turn."

(Anubis: 7100, Yami: 8000)

Anubis drew, and grinned. "Time for some pain, Pharaoh! I play Necro Force! I can send demon or zombie type monsters from my hand to the graveyard in order to deal you half their attack points as damage. So I'll discard Underworld Knight (2000/0) and Demon Breaker (2700/2400) for a total of twenty-three hundred and fifty points of damage!"

The dark knight and the insane demon mage appeared on the field, and both slammed into Yami. He snarled and repelled both with his Puzzle, but the damage was done. "Next I play Undead Sacrifice! I can revive one level four or lower monster that has been sent to the graveyard this turn through a card effect, and also draw one card for every two of its level stars."

The deadly Underworld Knight appeared on the field, and drew its red daemon-blade. It glared at Yami. Anubis drew two more cards. "Luckily for you, he can't attack. Therefore, I end my turn."

(Anubis: 7100, Yami: 5650)

Yami drew. "Excellent. I sacrifice Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700) in my hand, along with the other two on my field, in order to special summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!"

Each of the three magnet creatures let out a small moan and began to split apart. Slowly, the pieces began to form a new single creature. The creature had a sword, powerful arms and feet, a strong set of pink wings, and a yellow masked face with magnets on it. Letting out a new moan, the creature took an offensive stance.

"I also summon my Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700)!" A mage in black robes with large shoulder pads, a green staff held in two hands, black gloves, a black helmet, and only his face visible appeared.

"Not bad, Pharaoh. You have summoned two powerful monsters in one turn."

Yami ignored the compliment. "Valkyrion, attack his Underworld Knight with Ultimate Magnet Edge!"

Rushing across the field, the large magnet creature brought its sword forward, preparing to attack. With a single sweep, it slashed the black soldier completely in half, leaving a shower of sparks in its wake. The remains of the warrior exploded quickly, leaving a small plume of smoke in its wake.

"These pathetic excuses for monsters will never defeat me!" thundered Anubis.

"When Underworld Knight is destroyed in battle, your battle-phase ends, and both of us can draw one card." He picked off his next card, while Yami grunted in anger and ended his turn."

It was back to Anubis. He drew, giving him a considerable five cards. "I set a monster in defense mode and one card facedown. End turn."

Yami drew slowly. "Here comes Dark Blade (1800/1500) in attack mode!" A swordsman appeared, dressed in black armor. It held a long sword, and red eyes flashed underneath its helmet.

Anubis scoffed at the sight of the new monster. "What a pathetic creature!"

Yami ignored him, and continued his move.

"I don't know what you expect to achieve with such a weak strategy, but I assure you, I will crush it! Skilled Dark Magician, attack his facedown monster with Dark Magic Burst!" The dark robed mage pointed his staff at the facedown card. A single sphere of black energy came flying from the staff straight for the monster, which instantly flipped face up to reveal an elf dressed in dark purple armor, and wielding a long, spiked staff. Its flesh seemed to be rotting.

"Undead Elf (800/2000) is too strong for your Skilled Dark Magician!" The sphere of dark magic was deflected, and hit Yami in the chest. He grunted, but took the blast nonetheless.

"Very well… Valkyrion, attack and destroy his abomination with Ultimate Magnet Edge!" Once again, the magnet creature swept up its sword and plunged into the shadowy recesses of Anubis' field.

Yami felt the backlash of freezing winter air hit his face as the undead creature exploded with a slash of his monster's sword.

"When she's destroyed, I can send three monsters from my deck to the graveyard in order for both of us to draw two cards." Yami snapped the top two cards off his deck, but grimaced as he realized that Anubis had also gained a fair bit of resources.

"I sent a card known as Demon Spirit (300/2000) from my deck when I used my Undead Elf's effect. It lets me immediately end your battle phase when it enters the graveyard in any way," Anubis chuckled.

"I… end my turn."

Anubis drew slowly. "Fool! I activate my facedown Pyramid of Light!" Yami grimaced, knowing exactly what was coming. This was going to be unpleasant…

A shining ball of energy appeared in the night sky. It began to glow very brightly, and spat out a beam of energy in each direction. Each beam hit one end of the terrace, and bluish-white energy appeared between the beams. The duelists were incased in the deadly pyramid.

"As usual, I play one thousand life-points to call out two of my deadliest beasts, Andro Sphinx (3000/2500) and Sphinx Teleia (2500/3000)

The first creature to appear was a monster that looked like it had the head of a lion, with a long flowing sandy blonde mane. It was bipedal, and dressed in a large blue robes. It had sharp, large claws.

The second creature that then appeared had the head of a young woman with long pink hair. Her eyes were golden colored. From her neck down though, she had a gray fur covered body of what looked like a lion that had wings. Around the bottom of her neck, there was a thick collar with a broken chain hanging from it. Her feet bore strong, powerful sharp. She screeched at Yami.

Yami grimaced, remembering the last time he had faced them against Marik. "I doesn't matter, anyway, as they cannot attack this turn, and are no where near strong enough to defeat Valkyrion."

Anubis didn't seem to care. "I set a card and end my turn."

(Anubis: 6100, Yami: 5550)

Yami drew. "All right! If you want to summon your big guns first, I won't hesitate to follow your example! I sacrifice Dark Blade and Skilled Dark Magician to summon my Titan of Ra (3000/3000)!"

The two monsters vanished, and were replaced by a huge monster, about fifteen feet tall. It was covered with golden armor, and it was vaguely humanoid. Its wings spread out, and its massive arms were equipped with hooked talons. Its face was essentially featureless, other than three cracks for eyes and a mouth, along with a stub of a nose.

"I assume this is one of the support cards for the Egyptian gods that Pegasus gave you?" chuckled Anubis, amused at the sight of the incredibly powerful monster.

"Titan of Ra is a powerful beast, one that will destroy you permanently! Attack his Sphinx Teleia with Titan's Fist!" The massive monster clenched its clawed fist, and punched the sphinx with all its might.

Anubis chuckled wryly. "I activate my facedown Sacrificial Essence! If your monster is stronger than mine, I can drain it of one thousand attack points!" The titan (2000/3000) was weakened, and the sphinx staggered back into a fighting stance, and was about to shatter Yami's monster with a body slam, when the Pharaoh countered.

"I play Cyclopean Might! All level seven and higher monsters are set at double their original attack points during this battle phase only!" The titan roared as its attack points skyrocketed to six thousand, while the weaker sphinx was at five thousand. Meanwhile, Valkyrion was at a gargantuan seven thousand, while the Andro Sphinx was equal to Yami's titan.

Anubis raised an eyebrow as the titan's fist began to descend. "Well, I want my sphinxes to survive, so I will play the quick-play spell card, Trial by Fire! It can only be activated when one of my level seven or higher monsters are attacked. When the attack is resolved, I gain life-points equal to your monster's attack points, and I can end your battle phase."

The titan's fist shattered the Sphinx Teleia completely, and Anubis glowed with dark energy as his life-points increased.

Yami grimaced. This wasn't good.

Anubis laughed at the Pharaoh's plight. "Very well. I activate the magic card, Battle of Eternity! Whenever a card with 'Obelisk', 'Ra', or 'Slifer' in its name destroys a monster, I begin to accumulate tribute counters equal to the level of slain monster!"

Anubis raised an eyebrow as ten tiny red points of light floated over to Yami's field. "I see… What are these tribute counters for?"

"You will see soon enough. For now, I set one card facedown and end my turn."

(Anubis: 8100, Yami: 5550)

Anubis began the turn facing off two incredibly powerful monsters. He did not seem worried, however.

"I activate the magic card, Devil May Cry! I can sacrifice one monster to special summon all monsters in my hand that are equal to, or weaker than it. So I sacrifice Sphinx Teleia, in order to special summon my Nova Dragon of the Abyss (2500/2500) and two Giant Germs (1000/100)!"

A ten foot tall demon dragon appeared. It had huge wings, and it seemed to glow with dark energy. Two small blobs of black living matter appeared next to it.

"Perfect. I activate Nova Dragon's effect, sacrificing dark monsters to weaken all your monsters by the attack points of the sacrificed monster. So I sacrifice my two Giant Germs to weaken your pathetic creatures!" The magna warrior's attack points fell to fifteen hundred, while the Titan of Ra was at an incredibly weak one thousand.

"Nova Dragon, attack his Magna Warrior with Phantom Flame!" The demon dragon growled, and spat out a ball of black energy at the weakened monster. It let out a moan of pain as it exploded on contact with the flames.

"Such exquisite agony! I'll pass it back to you, Pharaoh."

(Anubis: 8100, Yami: 4550)

Anubis was far in the lead, and Yami kept that in mind as he drew. He smiled at the sight of the new monster. It was just what he needed. "I sacrifice the weakened Titan of Ra to summon General of Obelisk (2400/2000)!"

The new monster was a humanoid dressed in dark blue armor. It drew a long katana and glared at the stronger Nova Dragon. A cape flowed out behind it, and it let out a howl.

Anubis gave a dry laugh. "I guess senility is catching up to you after five thousand years. Your creature is nowhere near as strong as mine. It's been nothing but a truly pathetic waste." Yami shook his head.

"This is something called strategy, Anubis. Upon being tribute-summoned, my General allows me to draw two cards." Yami snapped the top two cards off his deck. "Perfect. You see, my monster in the envoy of the great god of war, Obelisk. He commands his troops very well. For every monster card I drew, I can special summon a monster with 'Obelisk' in its name, that has a level less than that of my General. I choose my Soldier of Obelisk (2000/2000)!"

A soldier dressed in blue armor appeared. It had a huge shield emblazoned with the picture of the mighty god of war, and carried a long, and deadly broadsword. "My Soldier's effect activates! I can sacrifice a monster with 'Obelisk' in its name to him, in order to increase his attack points by hundred for every level star of that monster."

The general bowed to Yami, and disappeared into a puff of smoke, which was absorbed by the soldier. This put him at twenty-six hundred, making him stronger than the Nova Dragon. "Attack with Blade of God!"

The warrior dropped his shield, and charged across the field. It leapt into the air, and dodged the ball of black flames that the dragon spat at it, and with a single, mighty slash, the dragon's head fell off, and its entire body shattered.

"Also, when my Soldier destroys a monster, I can destroy a face-up magic or trap card on the field. So say goodbye to your Pyramid of Light." The warrior snarled, and struck the side of the pyramid with its sword. This sent cracks running up through the entire thing, and it suddenly exploded.

"Impressive," mused Anubis.

Yami gave him a pointed look. "I haven't even begun to be impressive." The night wind was whipping his air up, giving the ancient duelist a very fierce look. "Don't forget about the tribute counters." Six more specks of red light appeared on Yami's field, giving him a total of sixteen.

"Take your turn, Anubis."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba drew, glaring at the incredibly mighty XYZ God Cannon (5100/2600). He looked over his hand of four cards.

"Time for that abomination to die!" he spat. "I play Monster Reborn, to revive my Vorse Raider (1900/1200)!" The olive-skinned ogre reappeared, and waved its axe-like spear wildly.

"Next I activate Riryoku! This will slash your monster's attack points in half and add the same amount to my Vorse Raider (4450/1200)!" The angelic machine (2550/2600) shuddered as a mystical force ripped some of its power from it and transferred it to Kaiba's mighty beast-warrior, setting him far above the XYZ God Cannon.

"Attack now with Rage of the Mad Beast!" The Vorse Raider growled, and tore across the field. Wielding its axe in a fevered frenzy, it slashed the machine in five places in one move. The combo creature gave a shriek of pain, and shattered as the ogre dealt a final, devastating, finishing blow.

Kaiba gave Dartz a dirty look. "Try that on for size."

Dartz did not seem worried. "Quite impressive, but futile nonetheless. What can you hope to achieve after destroying a creature that isn't even from my deck? This is all just the beginning of the power of my Citadel of Darkest Light- Orichalcos! You see, when a monster on my field is destroyed, the Citadel of Darkest Light- Orichalcos grants me life-points equal to the monster's original attack points."

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 4050, Dartz: 8200)

Kaiba and Kevin were disconcerted by his confidence, but hey, they had quite an advantage when it came to field presence. In fact, everything was open for Kevin to hit Dartz with an all-out attack.

"I'll pass it over to my partner," said Kaiba quietly, not bothering to even glance at Kevin.

Kevin drew, and held up Graceful Charity. "I discarded two Repayment of Losses, which means I draw a net total of four cards." Kevin fanned out his full hand of six cards, and considered.

He could easily go on the offensive, but he already had a good strategy rigged up that would give him a mighty force in the future. It would look rather stupid to play defensive when Dartz was wide open, but he was better off playing by his own strategy rather than playing against Dartz's strategy.

"I set one card facedown, and throw a monster in defense mode. I end my turn."

Kaiba exploded in anger. "ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU COULD HAVE HIT HIM AS HARD AS YOU WANTED!"

Kevin didn't answer. It was a strange move… But all he needed was for Dartz to take the bait and attack his facedown monster.

Dartz gave Kevin a patronizing look. "That was an especially foolish move, you know that?"

Kevin glared at him. "It's a little something real duelists call strategy. We can all see that you rely on broken cards and have no real skill."

This comment infuriated the Prince of Atlantis, and he drew with a dark look on his face. "You will pay for such arrogance. I play my Monster Resurrection card! This lets me revive a monster that has been removed from play. I choose your Blue Eyes, Kaiba!"

Kaiba's eyes darkened with fury as his magnificent dragon erupted out of the ground on Dartz's field. It was completely black, however, its talons were far more cruelly hooked, and it looked overall more deadly. Its teeth were sharper, and its eyes glinted with true hate and anger. It roared at its former master.

"I'd like to introduce you to the Blue Eyes Black Dragon (3000 500 3500/2500)!" The dragon glared hatefully at Kaiba, who was unable to take the sight of his own soul monster turned against him.

"You see? It was a wrong move to anger me. You now face a far more powerful monster than you would have. Instead of angelic versions of your monsters, the darker part of my Citadel comes into play, and you face dark creatures birthed in places that even hell fears!" In answer, Kaiba simply glared at the man whom he hated so much.

"Of course, it gains some abilities. For one, I can choose to either attack all monsters on the field, or deal damage to defense. In both cases, potential damage is halved. So, my Blue Eyes Black Dragon, attack Hunter's monster with Black Lightning!"

A wave of black lightning exploded from its mouth, racing across the field. The black lightning collided with Kevin's monster, vaporizing it. "You destroyed my Masked Dragon (1400/1100)," chuckled Kevin.

"When its destroyed, I may special summon one dragon type monster from my deck to the field. I summon another Masked Dragon in defense mode!" A white and red dragon appeared on his field, its wings wrapped around its body protectively.

Dartz was not impressed. "The effect of my Blue Eyes Black Dragon will force you to take damage."

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 2850, Dartz: 5400)

Kevin gasped as his life-points fell considerably. "It's worth it…" he kept telling himself. "Soon, you'll be the one whose laughing," he thought.

"Well, I suppose I can set one card facedown and end my turn."

Kaiba drew, and glanced desperately over his hand. There had to something for him to do… He sighed and switched his Vorse Raider to defense mode and ended his turn by throwing one card facedown for protection.

Kevin drew. "It was a foolish move to leave my Masked Dragon on the field. So watch as I activate my facedown magic card, Grand Dragon Gathering! I must sacrifice one dragon on the field, in order to add two level six or higher dragons from my deck to my hand."

The Masked Dragon disappeared, and Kevin finally found the two necessary cards. "Now watch as your strategy comes crumbling down! I play Polymerization, fusing Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500) and Grand Emperor Dragon-Envoy of Revenge (2000/2500) in order to summon a beast that I wouldn't wish on even Kaiba! No one deserves the might of this monster but you."

The deadly orange dragon appeared on his field, and snorted out flames from its nostrils. Next to it appeared the massive golden-plated dragon that roared upon seeing Dartz. "Now… Combine!"

Kaiba watched in interest as the two were pulled into a vortex.

"This is finally getting interesting…" thought Bakura, his arms crossed while Kyle watched in awe.

A huge form erupted out of the vortex. It was about sixty feet tall, but the throne room was more than big enough to accommodate it. The dragon was silver plated, and its golden eyes glared at Dartz with such intensity that the Atlantian Prince would have died if looks could kill. Its massive wings spread out and it gave a roar that shook all the duelists to the core.

Kevin looked wistfully at the huge fusion. "Finally…. I've been waiting a long time to use this bad boy. You see, he gains four hundred attack points for every card you have in play. I count three, putting him at forty-eight hundred!" The huge monster glowed with insane power as a small, golden ball of energy appeared in its mouth.

"Now, this is more than enough to crush that abomination! Attack with Giga Flare!" The golden ball of energy expanded until it was larger than the extent of the dragon's jaws. With a titanic roar, it let lose a vortex of power towards the Blue Eyes Black Dragon.

Dartz snarled and covered his eyes to block out the light from the mighty explosion. The Blue Eyes Black Dragon was vaporized on impact, and the attack nearly threw the Atlantian off his feet.

When the smoke cleared, Kevin was smirking smugly at him. "Try that on for size. While my Grand Centurion Dragon (4400/2800) is in play, victory is impossible. I'll set one card and pass the turn to you, Dartz."

"Don't forget I gain life-points equal to the Blue Eyes' original attack points," rasped Dartz as he drew.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 2850, Dartz: 7100)

"I set two cards facedown, and add a monster in defense mode." (Grand Centurion Dragon: 5200/2800)

Kaiba drew. "I switch Vorse Raider to attack mode, and also summon my Twin Headed Behemoth (1500/1200)!" An orange-and purple-skinned dragon with two heads and weak-looking wings appeared next to Kaiba's beast warrior card.

"Vorse Raider, attack his monster!" The Vorse Raider rushed forward in an attempt to slash the facedown monster with its massive axe.

The card was slashed enough, to reveal a small sage. "My Orichalcos Occult Sage (500 500 1000/1000) allows me to move a card from my removed from play pile to the graveyard upon destruction," chuckled Dartz.

He held up his chosen card. "My choice is Knight of Immortality (300/2400)!" Kevin and Kaiba were both surprised, but didn't say anything.

"Very well… Twin-Headed Behemoth, attack!" The two-headed drake opened both mouths and spat out two plumes of searing flames, which hit the prince's chest. He grunted in pain, but held his ground.

"End turn," said Kaiba smugly.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 2850, Dartz: 5200)

It was Kevin's turn. He drew, and gave a faint smile. "_I don't need this now… I'll save this for later, if I happen to need it. Against an opponent like this, god knows I will_."

"Grand Centurion Dragon, attack his life-points directly with Divine Nexus Flame!" The huge monster let out an earth-shattering roar, and the golden energy was sent streaming out towards its master's opponent. With 4800 attack points, it would cut his life-points to a miniscule four hundred.

Dartz chuckled dryly. "Honestly, did you think I'd stand by and let that happen? Activate facedown card, Mirage Magic! This negates your attack and increases my life-points by your monster's attack points!" A silver barrier appeared around the Atlantian. The golden energy was unable to penetrate it, and Dartz gave a satisfied sigh as his life-points were boosted.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Kevin glaring at him.

The dragon duelist was seething. He had come _this_ close to victory, and Dartz had so easily slipped through his fingers.

There was absolutely nothing for him to do. "I end my turn," he said quietly.

Dartz drew. He gave a chilling smile. "I activate the effect of my Citadel! Once per duel, by paying half my life-points, I can summon as many level four or lower monsters from my graveyard as possible. I only need three. My choices are Knight of Immortality (300 500 800/2400), Knight of Control (1500 500 2000/2000) and Knight of Death (1900 500 2400/1600)!"

Kevin and Kaiba watched in shock as the graveyard slot of the Chaos Duel Disk glowed with green light. It violently spat out three cards, which Dartz set on his monster card zones. The three creatures rose up, one a handsome soldier dressed in white armor and wielding a huge shield, the second a black armored creature that looked like a mage, and a red-armored soldier with a long sword and murder in his eyes.

Kevin looked pointedly at the trio of knights. "Pretty useless. All they've done is strength my monster to fifty-six hundred!"

Dartz gave a wry chuckle. "Don't be so sure. Together, these knights will be you undoing!"

Kevin was confused. "Even if you have a Brave Attack, my dragon is stronger than all three knights combined!" Kaiba was rather confused as well.

"Allow me to explain. You see, in my hand I hold a certain monster that can only be summoned by sacrificing these three specific monsters. Therefore, I offer up my Knight of Immortality, Knight of Control, and Knight of Death, to summon my almighty Knight of God!"

Kaiba gasped as the three monsters vanished in a swirling vortex of light and power. Dartz set a new card on his Duel Disk, and his eyes burned with madness.

The light subsided to reveal a towering form. It stood perhaps twelve feet tall, and wore golden armor. In one hand, it held a European broadsword, and in the other it carried what looked like a medieval shield. From its hefty shoulders, a cape flapped down across its back. It raised its head to reveal an incredibly handsome face covered by a helmet. However, the face was marred by rage. (3000 500 3500/3000)

"You've made him angry," said Dartz in a raspy voice.

Kaiba was the first to recover. "Three thousand? Please! Hunter's dragon has forty-eight hundred attack points, more than enough to obliterate this monster. It can destroy either one of my monsters, but then Hunter will quickly overwhelm it, leaving you wide open to an all-out assault!"

Dartz glared at him. "I will ram those words of bravery and arrogance down your throat and make you choke on them! I activate my Knight of God's special ability. Every turn, I can discard a card to resurrect one monster from any player's graveyard onto my side of the field, and my Citadel will soon turn it against you."

A wicked grin spread across his features. "I know exactly what I want! My choice is the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!"

The three headed creature appeared on Dartz's field, but it had been twisted and perverted to such an extent that both the dragon duelists were sickened by the sight of it. It was jet black, and its eyes were a deathly pale blue. It had spikes running up and down across its back, and its tail had a particularly poisonous looking spine at the end. Its talons were much longer, and its huge, serrated fangs stuck out of its jaws.

"Meet the Blue Eyes Ultimate Devil Dragon (4500 500 5000/3800)!" Kaiba just stared at it in insane shock.

"I activate its special ability, which lets me pay half my life-points to special summon all three Blue Eyes White Dragons in either player's graveyard. So I'd like you to introduce to the three Blue Eyes Black Dragons (3000 500 3500/2500 3)!!!!"

The three black behemoths appeared on his field, next to their fusion and the deadly agent of god.

Kevin chuckled nervously. "Since you have seven cards on the field, my dragon now has sixty-four hundred attack points, which is stronger than any of your monsters!"

He looked at Kaiba shakily. Any one of these monsters was more than enough to destroy him. Kevin himself seemed to be safe… For the time-being.

Dartz was laughing insanely. "I equip Knight of God with the spell card Perfect Opponent! This will allow him to destroy any monster in battle, and at the same time, I can discard one card from my hand to reduce all damage to zero."

The divine soldier glowed with silver energy, and it looked up with pride in its eyes.

"This is the end of the line for you fools! ATTACK!" And the five monsters started across the field towards their two targets…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Well, that's another fifteen thousand words in only three days! I have no idea what's happening to me, lol.**

**I would like to say that this chapter is dedicated to the memory of a man named Mahatma Gandhi, who died sixty years ago. He was a truly great man, and if everyone in the world could be like him, we'd be living perfect lives.**

**On a lighter note, I would recommend my readers to check out the stories of Wolf General. I will be using his cast (with his permission, of course) in Nightrise, and if you want to keep up with the storyline and new characters, it would be wise to at least brief through these three fics:**

**Demon Duelist Legacy Shadow Tournament Arc**

**Demon Duelist Legacy Dark Soul Arc**

**Demon Duelist Legacy World Tour Arc**

**These are great stories, and if you like them, you should read the rest of his amazing fics. At the end of it, you should at least have a brief knowledge of his characters and the history of his universe if you want to know what's going on in the sequel to this story.**

**Btw, the concept of tribute counters, which will be seen much more in the next chapter, as well as Repayment of Losses, belongs to my friend and fellow author, Seeker of the Soul.**

**Anyway, I hope this huge chapter satisfies you all….. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cya.**


	40. Destiny's Lord

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: Destiny's Lord

**Well, here's chapter forty of YuGiOh! Advent of Power. To celebrate, this chapter is twenty-one thousand words long, with fifty-two pages. Damn, I hope it's worth it.**

**BEWK: Thanks. Hope you like this one as much.**

**Princess Yunariana: I'll probably have Serenity duel in the sequel. **

**Mystralwind: You like Ryou? Seriously, when you compare him to Bakura, the character is a bit boring. Anyway, glad you liked it. **

**Mysticlife: Thanks. I'll definitely get to your fic when I get the chance.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Thanks a lot, man. Yes, Orochi finally makes its appearance this chapter. C'mon and update Dream Duel soon. I wanna see what else Marik has up his sleeve, and also what the Kozaky monsters can do against him. Anyway, thanks a lot!**

**Shadowcat: Nope, I know what you're thinking. Marik wasn't controlling Tea. In fact, the entire affair is going to be explained in the sequel, which will take place right after this story ends.**

**DuelistBlake1852: Thanks a lot. I thought the Seto/Serenity thing might be unlikely, but hey, some people think Seto/Joey is possible (vomits). It's the only pairing in YGO that I seem to have any interest in, and I thought that it might be fun to experiment a bit. Zane vs. Kaiba was extremely fun to write, anyway. Thanks a lot for your compliments, as well as your advice. Update your fic soon, man, I wanna know what happens next!**

**Well, my fic has crossed a hundred reviews, for those of you who haven't noticed. I'd like to thank everyone who has stood by and read whatever I've pumped out, and I hope you continue following my stories after this one ends. This is dedicated to all my readers. Peace out!**

Anubis eyed his adversary very carefully, and picked off the card very carefully, as if weighing it in his hand.

"I activate the spell card, Necromantic Demon Summon! I can pay one thousand life-points in order to special summon all level four or lower demons or zombies in my graveyard."

He gave Yami a grin. "So now I pay a thousand life-points at the same time. Please welcome back my Underworld Knight (2000/0), Demon Spirit (300/2000), two Giant Germs (1000/100) and finally, Pyramid Turtle (1200/1400) all in defense mode!"

The five monsters all appeared on the evil entity's field, and growled at Yami, who stared impassively back.

"I also draw a card for every monster that has one thousand or less attack points. There are three." He snapped the top three cards off his deck. "Hmmm… Perfect. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

(Anubis: 7000, Yami: 4550)

Yami angrily snapped the next card off his deck.

"I use its ability to special summon Soldier of Ra (?/?) from my hand, at the cost of one thousand life-points!" A small warrior dressed in golden armor and carrying a lot spear appeared. It had a helmet that resembled Ra's head.

"This monster's attack and defense points are equal to the base points of the strongest monster in play, namely my Soldier of Obelisk!" The golden armored warrior (2000/2000) let out a cry as energy flowed through its body.

"Finally, I play the magic card Divine Summoning! When I have a monster with "Ra", "Slifer" or "Obelisk" in its name, I can discard a card to special summon another copy of that monster from my deck. I choose to summon another Soldier of Ra (2000/2000)!" An identical monster to the one already on Yami's field appeared.

"I discarded Repayment of Losses." He snapped off the top card from his deck.

"When this monster is summoned, and I have another Soldier of Ra on the field, I can draw two cards." Yami picked the next two cards off his deck.

Anubis felt a huge pulse of energy from Yami's second card. A chill of excitement went down his spine and he forced himself not to say anything. "_He's drawn it… The tormentor._"

Yami's face had a positively furious look on it. "Now Anubis, you face my wrath! I activate the ability of the tribute counters. This lets me sacrifice them in place of tributes. Four tribute counters count as one sacrifice, so I will sacrifice twelve tribute counters to summon my god, OBELISK THE TORMENTOR (4000/4000)!"

The sky darkened even more than before. A blinding blue light began filling the are around them suddenly, and slowly up from the ground rose a powerful, large blue monster. It had powerful large arms, gigantic wings, and powerful legs. It was standing behind Yami, floating on the side of the building.

Anubis watched it, a hungry look growing in his eyes. "The legendary war god of Egypt… It will be interesting to crush it."

Yami gave him a hard look. "Don't be so sure. I sacrifice the two Soldiers of Ra to Obelisk to activate his special ability! Now he destroys all your monsters and deals you four thousand points of damage! FIST OF FURY!!!"

The blue creature reached out and took hold of both the weaker creatures. Holding one in each hand, his hands began to glow white as the creatures were dissolved. Within seconds, both monsters were gone, leaving a powerful blue creature with brightly glowing red eyes. In moments, the creature's body began to glow with red light as his skin changed from blue to red. With a mighty roar, the creature glared at Anubis.

Bringing both fists up directly in front of his body, the red creatures fists began to glow bright red. Energy formed at the fists, each swirling. With deadly precision, the red creature released his twin blasts, which swirled into one large blast. The blast immediately slammed into the five monsters on the God of Death's field.

He cried in anger as the five monsters disintegrated. The blast only continued on, with Anubis in its path.

The God of Death was hit full on by the blast and he roared in pain. He was thrown back against the railing of the terrace. The blast continued on for a few minutes, before it left Anubis gasping in pain.

Yami had a hard look on his face. "Soldier of Obelisk gains five hundred attack points when Obelisk the Tormentor is in play. Now, attack him directly and end the duel."

The soldier nodded, and bowed to the god. Slowly, it glowed with blue energy, and its sword grew in size. With a battle-cry, it rushed across the field and was about to slice Anubis in half, when he gave a wry smile. "I… will… not lose so easily Pharaoh. Activate Mirage Magic!"

Yami grimaced. This would negate his monster's attack and boost Anubis' life-points by its attack points. Most of the damage had just been undone.

The soldier was blocked by an invisible shield, and Anubis got to his feet. He was looking at Obelisk with pure hatred in his eyes. "Your god will die, Pharaoh. Make no mistake… Soon, you will follow it to your grave!"

Yami narrowed his eyes, and his mouth became a thin line. "End turn."

(Anubis: 6100, Yami: 3550)

Anubis drew slowly. "Even Obelisk will be unable to break through this defensive strategy! I set a monster in defense mode and add a card facedown."

Yami drew, and narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you hope to achieve, but I assure you, it will not work! Soldier of Obelisk, destroy it!"

The knight leapt forward, and its sword was about to cleave through the facedown card, when Anubis dismissively raised a hand. "Activate facedown card, Go To Hell! This continuous trap prevents you from attacking all demon or zombie monsters on my field, as long as I pay one thousand life-points every turn!"

A strange barrier ascended around Anubis' field. It was made of dead spirits, which shrieked in anger at the god and his soldier, both of whom snarled in return. The barrier blocked the Soldier of Obelisk in its tracks, and it was unable to do anything but glare in anger.

"Very well… I end my turn."

Anubis drew, a grin on his face. "Excellent… Excellent! Pharaoh… You now face my god!"

Yami narrowed his eyes. "God? Unless you have taken control of Marik's dark gods, there is nothing you have to match Obelisk…"

Anubis shook his head vigorously. "No… I'm talking about another god. This one was worshipped by the Japanese… And honestly, they couldn't have picked a more terrifying creature. To be very frank with you, there was a time when I wouldn't have dared to use its power myself, but when Marik revived me, I've been feeling a little more… Well, daring. Watch, as I play the ritual magic card, Desecration of the Seal!"

Yami watched in wonder as Anubis took two cards from his hand, and the monster from his field, and slid them into the graveyard.

Obelisk watched the scene impassively, and gave a small growl as a small explosion occurred about a mile away, in the heart of New York.

Anubis gave a chilling smile. "Tell me… Pharaoh. Do you believe in hell?"

Yami ignored the question. Anubis decided to continue. "Long ago, there existed a dimension. It was a terrible place… Full of fire and blood. It birthed things that even the elder gods themselves feared." Yami was focusing more on the growing pillar of icy energy some distance away from them. He could hear people screaming indistinctly.

"That place… It's where this creature resided. It was never worshipped, but to be honest, it never needed worshippers."

Yami felt the air fall a couple of degrees. Somehow, a drop of sweat still managed to roll off his forehead.

"It is a place that human's base their own personal hells off… This creature, it is the embodiment of nightmares! It is the kind of thing that makes you wake up in the night screaming in horror!" He exploded into insane laughter.

"I sacrificed these three monsters to fuel its summoning…"

The pillar of ice exploded, sending razor sharp shards flying in all directions. Yami grunted in pain as one of them scratched his hand, and he impulsively erected an energy barrier to prevent the rest from getting to him.

"Stop this at once," he roared at Anubis, who didn't seem to notice his words. Obelisk punctuated it with a roar, and the God of Death glared.

"Obelisk… Pay your respects to Yamata Orochi-… The Serpent Lord!!!!"

A creature rose up from where the tower of ice had been. It was right behind Anubis, and it towered over the entire city. It was like a coiled serpent-like dragon with piercing blue eyes, and icy scales all along its mile upon mile long body. Its upper body was a huge barrel-like chest with eight serpent-necked heads attached to the top. Each head resembled that of Slifer the Sky Dragon, however they all were much more angular and much more heavily armored. Also, Slifer didn't have such hate and sadism in its eyes.

"Pharaoh… Yamata no Orochi will play the final note of the tune of your life," thundered Anubis.

Obelisk roared at the new arrival, but it was barely noticed. The serpent-like dragon was looking at Yami with such hatred and hunger in its eyes, that it was almost like it would stop at nothing until it had consumed the ancient ruler (5600/5600).

Yami gulped as he noticed the monster's attack points. They were far more then those of Obelisk… And an attack at this point would really smart.

"NOW, PHARAOH…. FACE **MY **WRATH! ATTACK!"

The serpentine creature opened every one of its multiple mouths, and black flames formed in every one of them. With a hellish screech, the dragon fired out a blaze of infernal energy at the blue god.

Yami held up a card. "I discard Shining Kuriboh (300/200), which not only protects my monster from destruction by battle, but also reduces all damage to zero!"

A huge wall of silver furballs appeared in front of the attack. They glared angrily at the serpentine dragon as the infernal attack obliterated them. Obelisk, however, was saved.

Anubis gave him a hateful glare. "Orochi will kill you, make no mistake. You will only be able to hide behind such pathetic defenses for so long. I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yami drew shakily, and grimaced. At this point, Anubis' Orochi far surpassed Obelisk in terms of attack power. Therefore… He'd have to do something no one had probably ever done.

"I switch Obelisk as well as Soldier of Obelisk to defense mode!" The mighty divine creature let out a roar, and crossed its arms across its chest. As a god, it wasn't about to kneel.

"I also equip him with Jewel of the Tormentor! Now, Obelisk cannot be destroyed in battle. Since he's a god, he's immune to destruction by all effects. Essentially, there is absolutely no way to destroy Obelisk." The blue jewel in the war god's head began to pulse with divine energy, and it let out a soft growl.

Anubis acted as if he hadn't even spoken.

"I set one card facedown," continued Yami, "and end my turn."

A brown-backed card appeared behind the god.

Anubis drew. "You fool… I activate Yamata Orochi's deadly ability! Go, Death Sacrifice!" Anubis' facedown card vanished, and the eight-headed dragon let lose a barrage of black fire in Obelisk's direction. It hit the glowing jewel, which instantly stopped shining.

"My equip card…" Yami left the sentence hanging.

"Orochi's ability lets me sacrifice a magic or trap card on my field to destroy one on yours. The same applies to monsters. If I sacrificed an earth monster, I could destroy an earth monster on your field. That's why I summon Traitor Knight of Light (1800/1500)!"

A tall knight dressed in white armor appeared. However, the light was visibly tainted, and one could tell that the warrior was a truly evil being.

"I sacrifice Traitor Knight of Light to do away with your Soldier of Obelisk!" The knight disappeared, and the serpentine monstrosity let lose a torrent at the soldier on Yami's field. It cried out in pain as it was completely vaporized.

"Now, Orochi… Obliterate his god!"

The eight heads once again fired out a column of black energy at the blue god. "Activate Negate Attack," breathed Yami.

The attack was absorbed by a spinning vortex. Anubis let out a thunderous roar of rage. "You will die Pharaoh… One way or another." As if to punctuate his words, the air grew even colder.

Yami drew, a glazed look coming over his eyes. There had to be something he could do to combat this beast!

Obviously, something like Slifer or Ra would be ideal… But as it was, summoning them was a bit tricky right now. Not to mention completely impossible.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." He glanced at Obelisk once, and gave it a despairing look. He had no more methods to protect it.

Anubis caught the look in his eye. "Ah… I see that you've realized the futility of the situation." He held up his hand.

"ATTACK HIS GOD!" Yamata Orochi roared, and it sounded like the choir of hell was getting ready to sing the song of the dead. It threw back all eight of its head, and a storm of hellish, black fire descended upon the giant blue form of Obelisk.

The war god wouldn't go down without a fight. It drew back its fist, and hit the torrent. But it was in vain. Soon, it was completely overwhelmed, and it gave a mighty roar of regret before the oncoming attack vaporized it. It continued on and destroyed a few buildings in the city.

Yami was forced to cover his face to stop the dust from stinging his eyes. He could feel a throbbing pain in his chest as the last traces of Obelisk disappeared.

"Bah!" spat Anubis. "You are weak, Pharaoh… Everyone knows that. It is useless to believe that you can defeat Yamata Orochi! Surrender now, and you will be spared further torture. If you give up, you will simply be negated from existence by Orochi, a painless death that will involve no further suffering. Otherwise… You will die with more pain than you've ever known!"

Yami's head was pointing down, and his hair covered his eyes. When he looked up, there was such determination in his eyes, that Anubis was quite taken aback.

"I will never surrender, Anubis!" thundered the Pharaoh. "As long as there is blood in my veins, and breath in my body… You will not succeed in your sick plans. I will defeat you, just as I did five thousand years ago."

Anubis' eyes darkened. "Tell me… Do you even know what my plans are?"

"Does it look like I care?" spat Yami.

"Trust me, you will if you find out what they are." A feral grin crossed his face. "You see, once I defeat you, I will go after Dartz. Oh yes," he continued, addressing the surprised look on Yami's face. "Did you believe I would share power with anyone? He is a weak fool, and it is possible that your allies have engaged him in a duel already. Even if he prevails, he will be no match for me in weakness and exhaustion."

The Pyramid of Light glowed as he spoke, and images began to flash across the sky, visible only to the eyes of the two enemies.

The first one depicted an impassive Anubis standing over Dartz's corpse. "Of course, I will make sure that there is no one remaining to challenge me. Fools like Seto Kaiba and the Thief King Bakura will be killed. Then… I will follow my original plan."

The images all changed, to show huge monsters in various locations of the world, wreaking destruction in metropolitan as well as desolate areas. "I have no interest in the power of the Pharaoh, as that fool Marik did. I will simply claim the three dark gods of Egypt, and then absorb them. I will be whole again." A malicious grin spread across his face.

"I have plans… Pharaoh. Tell me… How large is the largest army of this planet?" Yami considered ignoring the question, but it would be useful to know what this psychotic entity was planning. He wracked his brains, and finally got the answer from Yugi.

"China. The army numbers roughly ten million."

Anubis' grin darkened. "Perfect. I was correct; your planet is completely unprepared for my assault. Do you think that a few million humans, along with modern weapons, would stand a ghost of a chance against an army of Shadow creatures that have spent five millennia in the making?"

Yami's eyes shot open. What was he talking about?

"After I have finished dealing with my enemies, I will claim all seven Millennium Items. This is will give me the power of the Guardians of the Pharaoh, the ones who were meant to control the Shadow creatures of Egypt! Soon, Pharaoh, Earth will be hit with an army the likes of which have never been seen before!"

The final scene depicted a mass of vehicles and armed soldiers opening fire on an infinitely large army of Duel Monsters. The weapons had no effect, and the slaughter commenced.

Yami looked away, sickened by the scene.

The glow of the Pyramid subsided, and the images disappeared. "Now you see… Pharaoh, how hopeless it is for the world to stand against me."

Yami glared. "At the end of it all, I still stand against you! Draw!"

With only three cards in his hand, planning Orochi's defeat was not very feasible. But if he were able to get some more cards, he would be able to do so soon.

For now, it was best to play defensive. "One card in defense mode. End turn."

Anubis picked off his next card. "Very well. Here goes my magic card, Advent of Hell! When Yamata Orochi is on the field, I can obliterate your entire field at the cost of discarding my hand and allowing you to draw three cards!"

Anubis slotted his hand into the graveyard, and Yami picked off three cards even as he watched Orochi in horror. Every head fired, two fireballs eliminating two of Yami's cards. The others simply struck different buildings and areas of New York., destroying even more of the city every second. "It's so lovely…this monster is so powerful…"

Yami grimaced. "_The longer his serpent is on the field, the more this city will be destroyed…_"

"Now, Pharaoh, welcome your death! DESTROY HIM!" The new torrent of fire was about the size of a building. The moment it would come in contact with Yami, he would be burnt to a pile of cinders. If he didn't have a move to save himself, it was all over…

Anubis was laughing insanely as all eight heads continued to pump out blasts of black energy at his adversary. Suddenly, he heard a dry chuckle come from within the flames, and looked up in surprise to see an infinite army of brown furballs appear to block the attack. They cooed sweetly as they were consumed by the hellish flames.

"KURIBOH (300/200)?!" he roared in anger. The flames cleared to reveal a smirking Yami. "There's a reason he's one of my favorites."

Anubis glared at him, and his eyes reflected true hatred and absolute fury. "_Pharaoh… I WILL KILL YOU_!"

"I'm getting bored of hearing the same line over and over," remarked Yami as he drew, giving him a full hand of six cards. He smiled at it, and realized he was in luck. "You see, the card you destroyed with your Advent of Hell card was none other than Repayment of Losses, meaning I hold seven cards."

"I play Monster Reborn, in order to revive Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!" With a flash of light, the metallic warrior reappeared onto the field and took up a fighting pose. It let out a small moan, showing it was truly ready to battle.

"He won't be staying long though. I use his effect once again, bringing back the three Magnet Warrior, so return Alpha (1400/1700), Beta (1700/1600), and Gamma (1500/1800) in defense!"

The large metallic warrior let out a small groan as it began to glow. From the glow came three beams of light, which formed the grey, yellow, and pink magnet creatures. Each took a knee, with the pink and yellow ones crossing their arms while the grey one took up a defensive stance with its shield and sword.

"Finally, I sacrifice each one to summon my second god… Anubis, I introduce you to Slifer the Sky Dragon (X000/X000)!!!!"

The sky suddenly began to darken even more than it had. The moon was hidden and lightning began to form. Soon enough, a large red and black snake like body was seen descending from the sky. Massive red wings were revealed, as were a set of powerful clawed hands. Slowly, the massive head of the red dragon was revealed. Its two jaws were closed, its yellow eyes seemingly glaring at its foes. It's sinuous wrapped around the Empire State Building, and it growled at Anubis.

The God of Death scoffed. "I know all about your monster's effects. It has one thousand points for every card in your hand. With only five cards, Slifer has five thousand attack points, meaning its six hundred points weaker than Yamata Orochi!" The huge god roared at the serpentine dragon, who roared back.

"This is interesting," chuckled Anubis. "Slifer versus Orochi… God versus Demon…. I never thought it would come to this. But know this! Orochi will prevail!"

Yami chuckled. "Not if I activate Pot of Greed, which boosts Slifer's attack points to six thousand!" He picked off the next two cards off his deck, and Anubis paled. Slifer glowed with divine energy as its attack points increased even further.

"Attack with Thunder Force!" Roaring in response to its master, the mighty red dragon opened its bottom set of jaws and released a mighty stream of golden energy in the direction of the many headed creature…

"I activate my quick-play magic card from the graveyard, Contract with Hell! I can prevent one dark monster from being destroyed in anyway!" He still looked worried as the golden energy was batted away by an infernal force.

Anubis clutched his chest in pain as he felt more pain enter his system.

(Anubis: 6700, Yami: 3550)

"End turn," smirked Yami proudly. He knew that with Slifer on the field, victory was imminent.

Anubis drew, the look of worry growing. At the look of the new card, he smirked. "Perfect… I set a card facedown and end my turn. I dare you to attack, Pharaoh." A brown backed card appeared behind Orochi.

Yami was surprised as he drew. Why would Anubis do such a thing? It was odd. It would have been sensible to at least switch Orochi to defense mode.

He looked over his hand, and held up a card. "Go… Fusion Gate!" The entire field was now wreathed with an empty, infinite black space. It was covered with mounds of green lines that looked digital, and they formed mountains, long plains and all kinds of things.

"We can now remove monsters from play to fuse them without Polymerization. So I throw Dark Magician (2500/2100) and Buster Blader (2600/2300) into the Fusion Gate to summon my mighty Dark Paladin (2900/2400)!"

Anubis only watched in amusement as they watched the warrior and mage appear on the field.

The two then began to swirl together, causing a black sphere to appear. The sphere touched down on the ground, and then finally dissipated to reveal a new mage. He had blue skin, long grey hair which was flowing out of his odd shaped helmet, and red eyes. He wore powerful looking blue armor with orange stripes all over it, and held a large magical staff that had a lance like sword on the top of it.

"He gains five hundred attack points for every dragon in the field and graveyard. I count three; my Titan of Ra, your Nova Dragon of the Abyss, and of course, not forgetting your Orochi." The warrior-mage glowed with silver energy as its power increased exponentially (2900 1500 4400/2400).

Anubis laughed out loud. "Pharaoh… It's all useless! I activate my facedown magic card, Blazing Abyss! I can protect a dark monster from battle damage this turn, and its attack points will be doubled next turn, although I must sacrifice it after attacking next turn! It's over! One attack next turn will end the duel."

Yami looked at him impassively as the God of Death laughed insanely. "I was expecting something like that. Which is exactly why I'm using my Dark Paladin's effect, which allows me to discard a card from my hand and destroy it."

Anubis immediately stopped laughing, as he watched the warrior-mage fire out a blast of yellow energy at the facedown card.

He immediately smirked again. "Since you summoned your Dark Paladin, Slifer has only four thousand attack points, meaning it is far too weak to take on Orochi (5600/5600)!" The eight-headed creature roared, as if in agreement.

Yami smirked. "Whoever told you I planned to use Slifer to destroy your foul creature? No, I plan to cut it down to size with one of the mightiest warriors to ever exist! I throw Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500) into the Fusion Gate, and fuse him with my Dark Paladin!"

A warrior with black ebony shiny armor with a mixture of gold trim, as well as a few blotches of red, mostly around his helmet appeared on the field. In his right hand was a powerful bronze colored sword, and in his left was a strong shield with black and gold coloring. On his shoulders were two golden backward sweeping spikes. His face had a light shade of green. The helmet that protected his head had three flowing spikes pointing behind him, and coming out from under it in the back was a braid of brown hair.

He disappeared along with the mighty warrior-mage, and a lightning bolt struck the tower. Slowly, a new form was revealed bit by bit. It was dressed in silver and green armor, and it gave off a lot of light. Its helmet was golden, and ebony hair fell to its shoulders. In one hand, it hefted up a long staff that resembled the Dark Paladin, although it had a longer blade. It didn't bother with a shield, and the powerful warrior glared at Anubis.

"This is the Neo Dark Warlock Paladin (3800/3000)," said Yami in a satisfied tone.

Anubis burst out laughing. "How pathetic! Your creature is nowhere near strong enough to defeat Orochi, and Slifer (3000/3000) is weaker because of it!"

Yami gave him a patronizing look. "Idiot. Do you think that my monster wouldn't have any worthwhile effects if he's so difficult so summon? Let me explain. You have twenty-four cards in your graveyard." Anubis shrugged. "So what?"

"You see, my Neo Dark Warlock Paladin gives all monsters on my field one hundred bonus attack points for every card in your graveyard!" (6200/3000) (5400/3000)

The god and warrior both glowed with chaotic energy, and Anubis took a step back in fear.

"Neo Dark Warlock Paladin… Destroy his creature!" The warrior-mage leapt into the air, and its staff began to glow. With a battle-cry, it let the staff fall back down, and the force with which this happened forced a massive wave of energy to flow outward, in the direction of the massive, serpentine creature.

The effect was momentous. The attack sliced off all eight heads at the same time, and at the same time, it sliced the dragon's entire body in half. Anubis stood in shock. The pieces of its body exploded into razor sharp shards of ice, which were sent flying in all directions.

"Slifer! Wipe out most of his life-points with Thunder Force!"

The dragon god roared, and let lose a torrent of golden flames at the mighty God of Death. He gave a feral grin, and his eyes shone red. "I activate Yamata Orochi's effect… I remove him from play in my graveyard, in order to reduce all damage to zero!"

A silhouette of the snake-like dragon appeared, and absorbed Slifer's blast.

Yami grimaced. "Fine. But without your Orochi, you are nothing. I end my turn."

(Anubis: 5900, Yami: 3550)

Anubis drew slowly, and held up a card. "I play the Card of Sanctity!" Anubis refilled his hand with six cards, while Yami drew three (Slifer: 8400/6000).

"Now… Pharaoh, the real game begins!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Knight of God was gliding effortlessly across the field towards the towering Grand Centurion Dragon. The divine agent raised its sword, and it with a single slash, it sliced the wyvern's head off. The knight landed cleanly on the other side of the field as the dragon's body disappeared. "He's removed from play upon destruction."

The Blue Eyes Ultimate Devil Dragon's attack was also targeting Kevin. It would wipe out his life-points, if he didn't have a defensive maneuver…

Kevin held up a card from his hand. "Drake Protection allows me to reduce all battle damage done to Kaiba and myself to zero, if a dragon is destroyed this turn."

Dartz seethed in rage as Kaiba and his two monsters were hit by the attacks of the three Blue Eyes Black Dragons (3500/2500 x3). However, they emerged completely unharmed. Effectively, Dartz's insane army had done no life-point damage to the two duelists.

"My army is too strong! You will not survive, no matter what!"

Kaiba didn't say anything. How were they supposed to defeat four monsters with thirty-five hundred attack points, and one with five thousand? It seemed like Dartz really did have them locked down.

Dartz gave Kevin a nasty grin. "However… You have irritated me. I activate Knight of God's effect. Once per turn, I can sacrifice a monster revived by its effect. I sacrifice the monster to Knight of God, and he targets a player who has activated a magic or trap card during my turn, with half that monster's attack points as damage!"

The Blue Eyes Ultimate Devil Dragon gave a roar, and it disappeared into a ball of white fire. The Knight of God clutched it in its hand, and threw it at Kevin. He was hit by it, and gave a groan of pain as the flames took their toll on its body.

"Damn it…" groaned the dragon duelist sensation. Dartz smirked. "End turn."

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 1550, Dartz: 2500)

Kaiba drew. Dartz's strongest monster was gone… But all his strongest monsters were gone, and he didn't have anything to stand up to the prince's four monsters. He could only hope and pray that Kevin did.

He drew slowly. "Card of Demise forces me to discard my entire hand now."

Kaiba grimaced and slid the four cards into his graveyard. "I discarded one Repayment of Losses." Silently, he drew a new card, and sighed in satisfaction. "I switch Vorse Raider and Twin-Headed Behemoth to defense mode!" The dragon folded its wings around itself, and the ogre dropped into a kneeling position, its staff held up in defense.

"I set a card, and end my turn."

Kevin drew, and glanced at Kaiba. He sighed, and set a monster in defense mode. "I end my turn."

Dartz drew, and his eyes blazed. "I activate Knight of God's special ability, taking your Grand Emperor Dragon (2000/2500), Hunter! Now, meet the Dark Emperor Dragon- Envoy of Hatred (2000 500 2500/2500)!"

The new creature rose up slowly. It looked similar to the original monster, but its armor was darker, and gave off black energy. Its eyes were blood red, and it had cruel, hooked talons. It roared insanely at Kevin, who closed his eyes in sadness.

"Now, I sacrifice my Blue Eyes Black Dragon to draw two cards." The insanely powerful beast disappeared, and Dartz picked two cards off his deck. "I activate Ability Insanity! I can reuse the effect of one monster on my field. I choose Knight of God, discarding one card to revive your Tyrant Dragon! Now, meet the new and improved Tyrant Black Burst Dragon (2900 500 3400/2500)!"

The large dragon appeared. It was still orange, but it was surrounded by an unholy aura, and even as it breathed, black flames licked the air. "Black Emperor Dragon retains the effect of the original, gaining five hundred attack points whenever a dragon is revived from the graveyard." (3000/2500)

Kaiba raised a hand. "Activate facedown card, Threatening Roar! This prevents you from declaring an attack."

Dartz's knuckles were white. "I refuse to allow you to foil my attacks! I am the true envoy of order! Those who deny me must be crushed!" But rules were rules. Dartz was forced to end his turn.

Kaiba drew, and glanced at Kevin. The younger duelist could almost read what his eyes said. "_I hope you have a move, Hunter, because I don't_."

"Pass."

Kevin drew, and finally smirked at Dartz. Kaiba almost sighed in relief at Kevin's confident manner.

"I sacrifice my facedown monster, and Kaiba's Twin-Headed Behemoth, in order to summon my Buster Blader (2600/2300)!!" The purple armored dragon slayer appeared, and hefted up a huge sword.

Kaiba stared at him. "What would a Buster Blader be doing in a dragon-user's deck?" "Simple. I thought I'd be facing you, and decided to use it to counter your Blue Eyes. But looks like it has more than one use." Kevin gave Dartz a dirty look.

"Since he has four dragons on the field, it gains two thousand attack points. Since the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon went back to your graveyard when it was sacrificed…" He glanced at Kaiba… "It doesn't gain those points, although its more than strong enough to destroy _our_ dragons." (4600/2300)

The warrior crackled with magical energy, and it pointed its sword at its opponent. Kevin gave a grin. "Now, I can destroy all your monsters with this magic card, Strike of the Slayer! By sacrificing my battle-phase, I can destroy all monsters on the field with less attack points than one monster on my field." He pointed at Dartz's field triumphantly.

"Buster Blader… Do your thing!"

The huge warrior buckled its knees, and shot off into the air. It raised its sword, and descended onto Dartz's field. First, it targeted the Knight of God. The two monsters slammed their swords together, and the divine warrior's face mirrored rage as it was cut down by the superior blader.

The next targets were the perverted Blue Eyes Black Dragons. They had their heads slashed off at the base of their necks simultaneously as the deadly dragon slayer avoided their attacks. Soon, the Tyrant Black Burst Dragon was hit in the chest by a quick thrust from the Buster Blader's sword, and finally the Black Emperor Dragon was dispatched (2600/2300).

The two duelists thankfully returned their respective cards to their own graveyards, while Dartz fumed. "I can activate another of my Citadel's effect, which lets me remove a card in my graveyard to gain the original attack points of one of those monsters as life-points."

His life-points shot up by three thousand, leaving theirs far behind in the dust. "How many abilities does this thing have?" gasped Kevin.

"Too many for you to handle, that's for sure," said Dartz coldly.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 1550, Dartz: 5500)

Kevin gave him a withering smirk. "I set a card and end my turn…" They had the advantage, with Kevin's powerful Buster Blader, as well as Kaiba's Vorse Raider to back them up. Dartz would have only one card in his hand, but with the Citadels innumerable effects… It was going to get difficult.

Dartz drew. "I play the magic card, Steal the Spell! By paying a thousand life-points, I can use a magic or trap card in one of your graveyards. I choose your Card of Demise, Kaiba!"

The CEO snarled as Dartz drew five cards from his deck.

He gave Kevin a vengeful look. "You will pay. I special summon Orichalcos Asguard Dragon (1400 500 1900/1000) using its effect!" A massive, ancient-looking dragon appeared. It was completely golden in color, and long claws extended from each paw. Its eyes glowed red as the Seal appeared on its forehead.

"Next I play the magic card, Swarming! By sacrificing one monster on my field, I can special summon five tokens with the same name and stats as the monster. So I'd like to introduce four Asguard Dragon tokens (1900/1000) (x4)!!!"

The five dragons roared at the Buster Blader (5100/2300). "That's pretty useless… I'm quite sure you're aware that my Buster Blader is far too strong for your dragons. It was incredibly foolish to summon so many of them when you knew that they stood no chance against my warrior."

Dartz chuckled. "Perhaps… But you see, I can sacrifice one of my tokens in order to summon Orichalcos Soul Force Archmage (1600 500 2100/1500)." The new monster was a mage dressed in flowing white robes. It held an ornate staff in one hand, and its long, flowing, white beard gave it the look of a classic wizard.

"As long as he's on the field, I don't lose life-points from battle damage done to Orichalcos monsters. Also, he gains two hundred attack points for every Orichalcos other monster on my field, which means he's at thirty-one hundred. Now, Asguard Dragon Number One, attack his Buster Blader!" The feral wyvern roared, and leapt across the field in an attempt to maul the warrior with its sword. Kevin's monster easily sidestepped the attack, and slashed the dragon in half. (Soul Force Archmage: 2900/1500)

As the corpse disappeared, the Buster Blader's stats fell to thirty-two hundred! "What the-…" gasped Kevin. "When Asguard Dragon is destroyed in battle, your monster loses attack points equal to the current attack points of my Asguard Dragon. Therefore, I'll attack your Buster Blader with another Asguard Dragon!"

The weakened warrior was able to slash the oncoming dragon in half before it could breath out golden flames (1300/2300). (Soul Force Archmage: 2700/1500)

Dartz snickered. "Now your monster is weak! Asguard Dragon Number Three, destroy his Blader!" The third attack was very successful, and it was able to gore the Buster Blader stomach. The warrior stumbled back, and was about to raise its sword, when it was enveloped by golden flames and vaporized.

Kevin gasped and activated his facedown card. "Go… Ancient Lore! When a level seven or higher monster is destroyed in battle, I can draw cards equal to the level of the monster divided by two, rounded off to the higher level. Also, your turn immediately ends."

The Orichalcos Soul Force Archmage was about to fire a blast of white energy at Kevin, but it was foiled by an invisible force. Dartz shrugged and ended his turn, relaxed by the fact that Kevin was on the ropes.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 950, Dartz: 4500)

Kaiba drew slowly. "I summon Super Vorse Raider (1900/1200)!" The monster that appeared looked just like his normal Vorse Raider, only in armor that seemed to be of a more futuristic brand in place of the thin fabric garments of the first monster.

"Not bad," chuckled Dartz. "But too weak for my Soul Force Archmage, and can only suicide with."

"Perhaps… But not if I equip him with Core Blade! This gives him four hundred more attack points, as well as the ability to attack twice in a turn." The Super Vorse Raider (1900 400 2300/1200) threw aside its axe-like lance, and a new, scimitar appeared in its gnarled hands. It glared at Dartz.

"Destroy two of his Asguard Dragon tokens with Strike of the Super Mad Beast!" The beast-warrior slashed apart two of the dragons with its new weapon. Its face was marred by feral glee, as if it delighted in slaughter and carnage. (Soul Force Archmage: 2300/1500)

"Now are monsters are equal," chuckled Kaiba. He nodded to Kevin.

"I end my turn."

Kevin drew, and frowned. He didn't have any monster in his hand right now that could defeat the Orichalcos Asguard Dragon, but he did have a chance… But it was risky to play his next card.

What the hell. If he didn't, Dartz would attack him and it would be over.

"I play the Card of Sanctity!" thundered Kevin. Kaiba glared at him. "Idiot! We were doing fine. Now Dartz has gone and gotten an insane number of options."

Kevin looked coolly back. "I like my soul just where it is, Kaiba." He then concentrated on his hand.

"I summon Sapphire Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode!" A shinier version of the Luster Dragon appeared. Its scales glittered even more, and it seemed to be truly a beautiful sight. It gave a mellow growl at the sight of Dartz.

"This is the more advanced version of my Luster Dragon. When its summoned, I can add one Sapphire Soldier (1800/1200) from my deck to my hand." He pulled a card from his deck and added it to his hand before shuffling his deck.

"Hmm… I can remove Sapphire Soldier as well as Diamond Soldier from my hand, field or graveyard from play, in order to special summon Diamond Holy Soldier (2800/2000) from my deck!" A mighty warrior descended upon Kevin's field, armed to the teeth with shimmering blue plate armor and grasping a large blade made of sapphire.

"Now, I union Sapphire Dragon with Diamond Holy Soldier in order to increase Sapphire Dragon's attack points by those of the Diamond Holy Soldier!" The soldier leapt onto the back of the small dragon, and the power of the duo increased (4700/3600).

"Sapphire Dragon, destroy his Soul Force Archmage!" Surprisingly, the scrawny wyvern was capable of lifting itself and its large rider into the air, and then with great speed charged Dartz's field, sword raised. With relative ease, combining the forces of gravity with the speed of the dive, the Holy Soldier dropped his blade, slicing the wizard cleanly in half.

Dartz didn't seem worried. "I don't take damage when my Archmage is destroyed."

Kevin wasn't worried. "Now you will start taking damage. When its Kaiba's turn, he can destroy you."

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

It was back to the Prince of Atlantis himself. He drew, and smirked. "I sacrifice my two remaining Asguard Dragons in order to summon my Orichalcos Deathscythe Lord (2800 500 3300/3000)!" The two golden dragons were replaced by a tall, cloaked form. It had a menacing air, and held a long scythe in one hand. Its black robes were tattered, and it gave a hollow cackle.

Kevin swallowed. "What the hell is _that_?"

Dartz gave a quiet chuckle. "You will now face the wrath of my most deadly combo! When Deathscythe Lord is summoned, I can add a level four or monster from my deck to my hand. I choose Orichalcos Immortal Mage (1500/1500). I use the final effect of my Citadel in order to discard it, and special summon a level eight or lower monster from any one of our graveyards. I choose to summon the Blue Eyes Black Dragon (3000 500 3500/3000), who is once again transformed by my citadel."

The black dragon reappeared and roared at Kaiba and Kevin.

"Next I use the effect of my Immortal Mage. By paying five hundred life-points, in order to add it back to my hand from the graveyard. I do so, and immediately discard it to special summon another Blue Eyes Black Dragon (3000 500 3500/3000)!"

Another perverted wyvern appeared next to its brother. Kaiba gasped in realization. This combo gave Dartz the ability to summon all kinds of monsters from their graveyards. "Now, I use the combo five more times, in order to summon Black Emperor Dragon – Envoy of Hatred (2000 500 2500/2500), Tyrant Black Burst Dragon (2900 500 3400/2500), Kaiser Dragon – Dark Kuriboh (2800 500 3300/1500), Luster Undead Dragon #2 (2400 500 2900/1400), and the final Blue Eyes Black Dragon (3000 500 3500/3000)!"

The army of dragons appeared on his field, all either black, or having rotten flesh. Kevin could barely take seeing all his dragons in such a condition. "Now, Black Emperor Dragon gains two thousand attack points because four dragons were summoned after it." (4500/2500)

Kevin swallowed nervously and glanced at Kaiba. An attack like that would destroy him, although Kevin himself was safe as his Sapphire Dragon was too powerful… At the moment.

"Unfortunately, monsters summoned by my Immortal Mage's effect cannot attack this turn. But, you are foolish not to see that Deathscythe Lord is my true monster. You see, I equip him with Centurion Sacrifice can sacrifice a monster to him at any time in order to for it to gain attack points equal to the base attack points of that monster till the end of the turn. Goodbye, Black Emperor Dragon…" The black dragon disappeared, and the cloaked wraith's attack points soared (7800/3000).

"Now, Deathscythe Lord… destroy Hunter!"

The wraith raised its scythe, and Kaiba closed his eyes. "Get ready, Gardner…" he muttered to himself.

The wraith floated forward, and its scythe came down upon the dragon. Kevin's eyes flashed, and Kaiba thought he was looking at fear. But he was wrong. The teenager's eyes showed nothing but determination.

"You think I'd go down that easily? My father was the World Champion at one point, and no way I'm going to let people think his son gives up so freakin' easily! I don't take damage when my Sapphire Dragon is destroyed. Also, Diamond Holy Soldier will be special summoned to my field!" The dragon was sliced in half, but the warrior jumped cleanly off and landed on Kevin's field.

"Very well. Since I cannot attack with any other monster, I set two cards and then must simply end my turn."

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 950, Dartz: 1000)

Kaiba drew. He knew that if he didn't get rid of that army _now_... It was all over for them. He drew slowly, and smirked. "I switch Super Vorse Raider to defense mode, and play Monster Reborn, to summon the one and only…. BUSTER BLADER (2600/2300)!" The deadly purple dragon slayer appeared on Kaiba's field, and hefted up its sword.

On the sidelines, Bakura quirked an eyebrow. "Seto Kaiba using Buster Blader? Since when has hell frozen over?"

"Since you have seven dragons between your field and graveyard, Buster Blader gains thirty-five hundred attack points." The deadly warrior's attack points skyrocketed to sixty-one hundred, and the dragons on Dartz's field seemed to quail.

"My Blue Eyes… They don't deserve to be subjected to your control! But still… Buster Blader attack his Deathscythe Lord!" The soldier shot off across the field, its blade flashing. With a single stroke, it was bout cut off the wraith's head, when the strange creature raised a hand. "I use his effect, redirecting the attack to one of the Luster Undead Dragon #2! Also, I activate my facedown Wish for Immortality, which lets me reduce all life-point damage to zero."

The warrior took a sharp turn, and its sword descended on the neck of the dragon, which fell off and lay writhing on the floor. Kaiba glared at Dartz. He chuckled at this.

"I set two cards and end my turn."

Kevin drew, and chuckled at Dartz. "You know… I've had one ace up my sleeve all this time, just in case I ever needed it. But it seems like the time is now. I play Mystic Wok, sacrificing Diamond Holy Soldier in order to increase my life-points by its attack points!"

The huge soldier disappeared, and Kevin closed his eyes while his strength was restored.

He snapped another card from his hand onto his Duel Disk.

"Here goes Dragon's Flight! By paying half my life-points, I can return all dragons in my graveyard back to my hand. I also draw a card for every three dragons returned. I have nine dragons returning, so I draw three cards." Kevin had an incredible hand size of fourteen. He held up another card.

"Finally, I summon Spirit Ryu (1000/1000)!" A new monster appeared that looked like a hybrid of a pterodactyl and a dragon. It opened its wings and screeched.

Dartz shrugged. "One thousand attack points? Please tell me this is an idiotic joke of some sort."

"It's no joke. I activate my Spirit Ryu's effect, discarding twelve dragons from my hand in order to boost its attack points by one thousand for each dragon!" The small dragon let out a small shriek, and its attack points soared beyond the duelists' wildest imaginations, coming to rest at an amazing thirteen thousand.

"Now, Spirit Ryu… ANNIHILATE!"

Kaiba didn't see what was happening, because a bright light filled the arena, blotting out even the light of the Seal. The Spirit Ryu had dived into the light towards the Deathscythe Lord, and somewhere in the blinding aurora, a battle was taking place.

When the light cleared, not only was the Deathscythe Lord no more, but every monster on Dartz's field was gone. He had a malicious smile on his face.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kevin: 1850, Dartz: 14700)

"WHAT?!" roared Kevin. "Simple. I activated my facedown trap card, Darkest Before Dawn! When the battle damage to be dealt is greater than the attack points of my strongest monster, my trap card grants me life-points equal to the attack points of all my monsters, which must be sacrificed," smirked Dartz.

"_Every time we're about to end the duel, he goes and stops us_," thought Kevin angrily.

"Now, I won't stop you from continuing your turn," chuckled Dartz.

There was absolutely nothing for Kevin to do. "I end my turn," he sighed.

It was back to Dartz.

"_Damn it… If he summons something with over twenty-eight hundred attack points, Hunter is doomed. All I have is this Buster Blader, which is now at thirty-one hundred, and Super Vorse Raider. Knowing Dartz, he's already got a plan to take it out_."

Dartz drew. "Of all the cards I could have drawn, this one is incredibly simple. I play Snatch Steal, to take Kaiba's Buster Blader!" A grinning thief dropped a burlap sack over the blader, and dragged the struggling beast over to Dartz's side of the field.

Kyle and Bakura gasped. The former's mind spun as he worked out the number of dragons in the graveyards of the two duelists. It came to nineteen, not to mention the Spirit Ryu already on the field.

"Since there are nineteen dragons in your combined graveyards and one on the field, this remarkable monster gains ten thousand attack points." (12600 500 1300/2300)

"Now… You have been a thorn in my neck since my first rise, Kaiba. Feel my wrath… DRAGON SLAYER'S SLASH!"

The purple warrior took off in Kaiba's direction, its sword spinning. It was about to slam its massive blade into the CEO's chest, when Kevin uttered a short chuckle.

"Wondering why I didn't discard this last card to Spirit Ryu's effect? I discard Golden Kuriboh Dragon (300/200) in order to reduce all damage to zero." A bunch of golden, winged furballs appeared in the way of the Buster Blader.

They were instantly sliced in half, but did their purpose in protecting Kaiba.

Kaiba gave Kevin a blank look, and the teenager interpreted it as the strange duelist's way of saying thank-you.

Dartz shrugged. "Let's see if the two of you are capable of defeating a monster that feeds of the power of your own primary strategies. The age of the dragon is long over… The age of the Orichalcos has begun."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," interrupted Kaiba, drawing his next card. Snatch Steal boosted his life-points by one thousand.

Dartz sighed. "This duel has been long… Fifty turns too long. I hope you fools will make your moves fast, so that I can continue on to annihilate the other child and the Thief King."

Bakura's eyes twitched at this comment, while Kyle glared at Dartz.

The CEO looked despairingly at his hand. He had nothing to beat thirteen thousand attack points. Hell, even his Blue Eyes Shining Dragon was like a bug when compared to such an insanely powerful warrior.

"I set a card facedown." He now had his Super Vorse Raider in defense mode, as well as three facedown cards.

(Kaiba: 3550, Kevin: 1850, Dartz: 14700)

Kevin drew, and he held up Pot of Greed. Drawing two cards, the young duelist continued, "Next comes my Magic Shard Excavation. I discard my final Repayment of Losses, which lets me draw another card that I immediately discard as well, in order to bring back the Card of Sanctity!"

Kevin drew six cards, while Kaiba drew two. Their opponent snapped three off the top off his deck.

He began to grin. "Dartz… You may posses the ultimate slayer of dragons… But is he good enough at what he does to slay the greatest of all dragons?"

"It can't be…" gasped Kaiba.

"Now play Dragon's Mirror, which allows me to remove from play five dragons in order to summon one of the most powerful monsters ever… The Five God Dragon (5000/5000)!!!!"

A large, powerful dragon with five very different heads appeared behind Kevin. It had pale yellow skin with some brown spots in it from the chest down, and its large wings were the same colors. The heads were each very different. The first on the left was a head made of metal, with the second seemingly formed form electricity. The middle one had a head of flames, with the one beside it made up of darkness. Finally, the last head was made up of water.

"Yes… Five thousand attack points, and it can only be destroyed by light monsters," chuckled Dartz. "But it's not enough. You did weaken the Buster Blader, but it's nowhere near strong enough, even now." (11100/2300)

Kevin held up another card. "I have eighteen hundred and fifty life-points, compared to your fourteen thousand seven hundred. Which is why a little thing I like to call Megamorph will be very handy right now!"

The titanic five headed creature exploded in size, and let lose an insane roar at the Buster Blader, who was not intimidated at all (10000/5000)

"A good effort, but not good enough."

Kevin slipped another card into his Duel Disk. "Not if I activate Death Dragon Summon! By removing two dragons from my graveyard, I can add the defense points of one dragon on my field to its attack points!"

The huge dragon glowed again, and it let out another, devastatingly loud roar (15000/5000) (10100/2300).

Dartz raised an eyebrow. "Impressive."

"I'll show you just how impressive my Five God Dragon is. God Dragon Burst!"

The five heads of the dragon roared loudly as each formed a sphere of energy within their mouths. A sphere of water, darkness, fire, lightning, and metal were each released at the oncoming attacks. The blasts made contact immediately, completely obliterating the purple warrior.

Dartz raised his hand in an attempt to block out the flying dust. "Not bad…" he panted, but his face was alive with anticipation.

Kevin gave him smug look. "Luckily for you Death Dragon Summon only works for one turn. I set one card and end my turn."

(Kaiba: 3550, Kevin: 950, Dartz: 9800)

Dartz drew, and gave Kevin a kind look. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hunter, but it's the end of line for you. I activate Premature Burial, paying eight hundred life-points in order to revive one monster from my graveyard."

"Which is what?" scoffed Kevin. "Knight of God? Deathscythe Lord? None of them can help you now."

"Oh really? The monster of my choice just happens to be Knight of Control (1500 500 2000/2000)." The knight with black armor and a long sword appeared. It quailed at the sight of the colossal dragon, which roared at the unwelcome arrival.

"So? It lets you sacrifice a monster. Nothing great."

Dartz gave a morbid grin. "Unfortunately for you, I can equip it with Unbreakable Grasp! Once per turn, this magic card allows me to discard a card in order to take control of one monster on your field. So…" He slipped a hand into his graveyard.

Then, the Five God Dragon glowed, and gave a groan of anger, before it trudged over to Dartz. He chuckled at a mortified Kevin. "Megamorph is fortunately destroyed, and the Five God Dragon has enough attack points to destroy you five times over." (5000 500 5500/5000)

Kevin closed his eyes, and Kaiba glanced at Kyle and Bakura. They knew that Kevin had no defense.

"Five God Dragon… GOD DRAGON BURST!"

Roaring in correspondence to its master, the powerful dragon released a burst of energy from each head. The five streams met the together and formed into one blast, which headed straight for Kevin. He opened his eyes, and they blazed as the blast hit him head on.

He threw Kaiba a sad glance before the millions of ergs of energy threw him against the wall of the Seal.

(Kaiba: 3550, Kevin: 0, Dartz: 9000)

Kaiba threw Dartz a glare. "You… YOU BEAT HIM WITH HIS OWN MONSTER! I WILL NOT LET YOU CONTINUE YOUR SICK GAMES!" He hated Kevin, and thought him to be an idiot, but he knew what having his soul taken felt like, and knowing that a somewhat innocent person had just lost theirs made him angry beyond description. The Seal had retracted around Kevin, leaving space open for the next duelist to take his place.

"And neither will I," said Bakura coldly, stepping forward with his Duel Disk activate, drawing two cards.

Kyle was about to say something, but Kaiba silenced him. "Stay out of this. You saw what happened to Hunter. He'll rip you apart."

He nodded at Bakura. "Let's take this freak down." The Thief King glared at Dartz, and glanced at Kyle before motioning to Kevin's soulless body. The other teenager slowly walked over to Kevin, and awkwardly pulled his body away before gently setting it down.

Bakura came forward and took Kevin's place. The Seal expanded once again, and the three duelists locked eyes, Kaiba's piercing blue ones, Bakura's prismatic violet ones, and Dartz's chilling green ones. The tension broke as Dartz spoke.

(Kaiba: 3550, Bakura: 8000, Dartz: 9000)

"I set one card facedown and end my turn. Just so you know, gentlemen, Five God Dragon will remain under my control until one of you is able to destroy, and I'm quite sure that you weak fools will find that impossible." The dragon roared, as if backing its new master up.

Kaiba drew, his eye shimmering. Right now, destroying a monster with five thousand attack points was beyond him.

"End turn."

The Thief King drew, and gave a short chuckle. "The Dark World monsters were only a temporary strategy against that fool Kagemaru. You will not only be facing them, but you will be up against the strongest demon deck ever. I set one monster in defense mode, and one card facedown. End turn."

The two brown-backed cards appeared behind Bakura, and he smirked at Dartz.

Dartz drew slowly, and instantly, it seemed like a scythe descended upon his cards. "Card of Demise forces my to discard my hand," he said shortly.

"But no matter. All I need to win this duel is the might of the Five God Dragon. Destroy the Thief King's monster with God Dragon Burst!"

Once again, each of the five heads let lose a different colored attack in the direction of the facedown card. Bakura just kept smirking as the monster was revealed to be a small, purple demon with two horns, before it was vaporized.

"My Demon Shaman (500/900) has a very powerful effect. When its destroyed in battle, all of us discard our hands." Kaiba glared at Bakura as the two players slid their hands into the graveyard slots.

"For me, I get to special summon Demon Dragon of the Dark World (2500/2000), who can only be special summoned when discarded." A giant black dragon appeared on Bakura's field, armed with long, deadly talons and razor sharp teeth.

Dartz raised an eyebrow. "Fine. What happens next?"

"I choose one player, and that player's graveyard and removed from play pile are shuffled into his deck. I target Kaiba." It made sense, as now Kaiba could once again work with his most powerful monsters.

Kaiba quickly shuffled his deck at an incredible speed, and slid it back into the deck slot. "Finally, we all draw new hands of six cards each."

Each duelist filled their hands. Bakura allowed himself a short grin. Dartz was surely running low on cards, and hopefully, he'd deck-out sooner or later.

"Your move, Prince?" mocked Bakura.

"Ah yes. I set a card and end my turn."

Kaiba drew slowly, and smirked. "Perfect. I summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1500)." The familiar blue and yellow robot appeared, its cannons glowing. It seemed to share its master's hatred towards Dartz.

"Next I play Ties of the Brethren. It lets me special summon two level four monsters of the same attribute from my deck, at the cost of a thousand life-points. I choose Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300) and Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600)." The yellow tank and the red mechanical dragon appeared next to the X-Head Cannon.

"I'm going to union them to summon an old friend. This time, I'm going to make sure that he doesn't get twisted by you. I summon XYZ- Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!"

Suddenly, the wings broke away from the Y-Dragon Head and vanished, its legs retracted itself inside its body and it floated above the Z-Metal Tank and fit itself comfortably inside a crevice on the yellow machine. Then, a panel slid open on the Y-Dragon Head's back, revealing a circular hole, and the X-Head Cannon floated all the way up above the red machine and fit its ball-like bottom neatly inside it.

"Even if your monsters combined their attack points, they can't touch Five God Dragon," gloated Dartz.

Kaiba chuckled. "Not quite. I activate XYZ Dragon Cannon's ability, discarding a card to destroy Hunter's dragon forever! Hyper Destruction!"

The weapons on all three of the combined machinations charged up with deadly energy, and then blasted the burning energy at the five-headed creature, who didn't have the chance to roar with agony as it was incinerated to ashes in a split-second.

Dartz was silent, and gave Kaiba cold smile. "You believe you have achieved quite a bit, don't you? My Citadel's effect gives me life-points equal to that monster's original attack points."

Kaiba's smirk changed to a frown as Dartz's life-points skyrocketed to fourteen thousand eight hundred.

"XYZ Dragon Cannon… Attack his Knight of Control!" The fusion machine unleashed a barrage of mechanical energy upon the unprotected knight, who gave a small grunt as the attack hit him directly in the chest, shattering him. "When he's destroyed, you draw one card, and I gain three thousand life-points."

"Good move, Kaiba," complimented Bakura, drawing as the CEO ended his turn.

(Kaiba: 2550, Bakura: 8000, Dartz: 17000)

"Perfect… I activate my Demon Dragon's ability. It gains five hundred attack points if I remove a monster from play. So say goodbye to Demon Shaman, and my monster is strengthened even further." (3000/2000)

Dartz was unimpressed. "Now, attack with Dark Demon Breath!" The huge dragon spat out a ball of black energy at the Prince of Atlantis. It hit him full on, and he suppressed a grimace as his life-points dropped considerably. The attack had actually taken a sizable chunk out of his life-points.

"You impress me, Thief King," chuckled Dartz.

The ancient spirit glared at him. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Dartz drew. "Ah… Excellent. It seems that you fools will be forced to face something far beyond the Orichalcos monsters. I summon Brute Soldier of Atlantis (1600 500 2100/1400)!" A human dressed in gray armor appeared. It held a sword made of emerald colored steel, and it also carried a large shield. It glared at its opponents.

"This is a very powerful card, although its one of the weaker beasts from my new army. It gains another five hundred attack points if a field spell with the word 'Atlantis' or a field spell that is a combination of one that has 'Atlantis' in its name is activate." (2600/1400)

Kaiba didn't say anything. "Not bad," uttered the Thief King, "But not enough."

Dartz chuckled. "I also forgot to mention that my monster has an excellent effect. At the cost of sacrificing my battle-phase this turn, it gives all monster with 'Atlantis' in its name four hundred more attack points, including itself!" (3000/1400)

Kaiba's eyes shot open as the soldier glowed with green energy. It was equal to Bakura's Demon Dragon, and far above his fusion. He forced to relax, as he knew that a simple discard would send the creature to a one-way trip to the graveyard.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Kaiba drew, and chuckled. "I activate my monster's effect, discarding a card to decimate your Brute Soldier!"

Numerous ports opened up on the machine's body and it began to charge up a small battalion's worth of cannons. "This new duel just began and you're already flailing! Go XYZ Dragon Cannon, destroy his monster." A wave of energy roared across the field and slammed into the soldier's chest, blowing it apart.

Dartz didn't say anything. "Now, I'll switch Super Vorse Raider to attack mode and have both my monsters attack you directly!"

The beast-warrior rushed forward, and the machine let lose a torrent of golden energy at the evil man, who simply smirked. "Activate facedown card, Heaven Mandate. When an Atlantis monster is destroyed, I can special summon as many copies of that monster as I can from my deck. So meet my two other Brute Soldiers of Atlantis (1600 500 500 400 3400/1400)!"

Two more bulky warriors appeared, and each one growled at the oncoming attacks. "We now have a replay. You can choose to commit suicide and continue the attack, or end your turn."

Kaiba grimaced. "I play Block Attack, switching Super Vorse Raider into defense mode. End turn."

Bakura drew, and glanced at the Brute Soldiers. A grin played across his face. "I activate Dark Hell Summon! First, you choose one monster that you can special summon from your graveyard!"

Kaiba's eyes bulged as the third Brute Soldier appeared on the field, powering up the other two further (3800/1400) (x3).

"Next, I can special summon a Dark World monster from my deck to the field, and activate its effect immediately! I choose one of my mightiest, Reign-Beaux, Overlord of the Dark World (2500/1800)!"

A new monster rose up. His body was extremely muscular, and was inscribed with several runes. Skin shone dark blue and black, and two massive wings branched out from his back. He held a staff with a gold blade in his left hand.

"When he's summoned, I can wipe out either all your magic and traps, or your monsters. Reign-Beaux, destroy his three monsters with Dark World Obliteration!" The demon slammed its staff into the ground, sending up a massive wave of energy. It hit Dartz's field, and shattered all three monsters.

Dartz brushed a fake piece of dirt from his robes.

"Reign-Beaux, attack him directly!"

Dartz crossed his arms in protection as the deadly demon rushed forward and brought its weapon down on him. It hit the angle the crossed arms, and Dartz looked up and glared. He seemed to radiate a green aura that threw Reign-Beaux back across the field.

"Demon Dragon of the Dark World… Shadow Flare!" Dartz was unfazed as the attack hit his chest.

(Kaiba: 2550, Bakura: 8000, Dartz: 8500)

On the sidelines, Kyle was frustrated. "_Something isn't right. They're hacking away at his life-points, and other than those Brute Soldiers, he's put up no resistance. It's as if he wants them to attack. That last attack, I'm pretty sure he could have stopped it. At this rate, he's a couple attack away from defeat._"

It was the Prince's turn. He drew slowly, and gave a chuckle.

"My, my… Such powerful monsters. But can they stand up to the ultimate might of the fallen city of Atlantis?!" He paused dramatically, as if expecting an answer to the rhetorical question.

"Well, I'll show you my true power. Activate, Renewal of Triplets! If there are three monsters of the same name in my graveyard, they're summoned to the field immediately! Welcome the three Brute Soldiers of Atlantis (3800/1400) (x2)!"

The three gray armored soldiers reappeared, and glared at Reign-Beaux. "They didn't like what you did," smirked Dartz.

"Now pay the price. Brute Soldier One, destroy the XYZ Dragon Cannon!"

The creature roared, and slammed its sword into the ground, throwing up pieces of sandstone. It grabbed a sizable chunk, and flung it at the machine.

"Idiot? Do you think I'd be so unprepared? Go, Limiter Removal, which doubles my monsters attack points and will also wipe out your pathetic Brute Soldier!" The rock hit the machine and bounced off harmlessly.

Dartz did not seem worried. "Now your monster counter-attacks."

"Damn right. Hyper Destruction!" The machine (5600/2600) released a wave of energy that blew the Brute Soldier apart.

Dartz held up another card. "I discard Orichalcos- Ultima Kuriboh (300/200) to reduce all damage done to me this turn in any way, to zero." Kaiba frowned, but said nothing.

"Brute Soldier Two (3400/1400), destroy his Reign-Beaux!" The second, large soldier drew its sword and charged across the field, hefting up the weapon as it went.

Bakura sneered. "Activate facedown card, Essence of Destruction! One dark type monster on the field gains one thousand attack points for every card in my hand for the turn. I hold five, which means Reign-Beaux gains a grand total of five thousand attack points! Counter!"

Reign-Beaux (7500/1800) let lose a ball of black fire at the oncoming soldier, who was instantly vaporized. Of course, Dartz's Kuriboh reduced all damage.

Dartz still was unworried. "My third Brute Soldier (3000/1400) can only suicide with your dragon, and it would be waste. Instead, I'll destroy Kaiba's Super Vorse Raider (2300/1200)!" The weakened soldier was still far above the beast-warrior, and sliced it in half with one slash.

Kaiba chuckled. "When its destroyed, Super Vorse Raider lets me summon up to two regular Vorse Raiders or Super Vorse Raiders from my deck. So I choose to summon one Vorse Raider, and another Super Vorse Raider (1900/1200) (x2), both in defense mode."

Two beast warriors appeared, one dressed in futuristic armor, and the other in a black garment. Both shrieked at Dartz.

"I end my turn with a facedown card." The XYZ Dragon Cannon shattered, much to Kaiba's anger.

(Kaiba: 1850, Bakura: 8000, Dartz: 8500)

Kaiba snapped the next card off the top of his deck. "Damn…" He had his two monsters in defense mode, and two cards facedown. Truthfully, he was helpless now that his machine was destroyed. "I end my turn."

Bakura drew. It wasn't worth it to destroy his Demon Dragon by attacking that Brute Soldier… But he didn't have much to do otherwise. Suddenly, he noticed a card in his hand, and grinned.

"Go Soul Exchange! I sacrifice your final Brute Soldier in order to summon Goldd, Wu-Lord of the Dark World (2300/1400)!" Suddenly, a gold-colored demon in gold armor, holding a huge axe, materialized on the field, and glared at Dartz, even as his final monster disappeared.

"Unfortunately, I can't attack this turn, but even if you're able to summon something, you'll be wide open for Kaiba," chuckled Bakura.

He smirked and ended his turn.

Dartz drew. "Oh no… My Brute Soldiers are gone? Whatever shall I do?" Kaiba didn't like the way the Atlantian Prince was saying those words.

"I know. I should play Hell Summons! I can revive up to three level four or lower dark monsters from my graveyard, although they can't attack this turn. I don't need to talk about my choice." The three Brute Soldiers of Atlantis (3800/1400) (x3) reappeared on the field and growled.

"What's more, I draw one card." He snapped the top card off his deck,

"Next I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Kaiba drew, and he frowned. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Another brown-backed card appeared next to the two, crouching beast-warriors.

Bakura drew, and uttered a laugh. "Perfect. I activate Polymerization, fusing Goldd with Sillva, Warlord of the Dark World (2300/1400)!"

Another beast appeared. It resembled Goldd ever so slightly, but was had silver skin, and was dressed in silver furs and armor. It held a long dagger. The two were pulled into a vortex, and a new form descended upon the field.

It was a demon roughly the size of Reign-Beaux, and wore platinum armor. It hoisted up a long spear and let lose a cackle. Its horrible features made Dartz wrinkle his nose.

"This is Platinnum, Inferno Emperor of the Dark World (3000/2800)! When summoned, he allows me to switch all your monsters to defense mode!" The three Brute Soldiers fell into a crouch, and with only fourteen hundred defense points, any of Kaiba and Bakura's monsters could tear them apart.

"Next I equip him with Sword of the Dark World! He can now attack all of your monsters for this one turn, and he'll deal you damage equal to all their attack points combined! Attack!"

The powerful demon raised its sword, and slammed it into the ground. Nothing happened for a moment, and suddenly, a wave of platinum colored energy was splitting the ground all the way to Dartz's field.

"You'll be dealt eleven thousand four hundred points of damage, meaning this duel ends now," said Bakura maliciously. Kaiba held his emotionless expression.

"_Impossible. Dartz will activate something now, I can guarantee it_."

True to Kaiba's thoughts, the Atlantian Prince pulled a card out of his hand and showed it to the Thief King. "I activate the quick-play spell, Matter of Life and Death. All life-point damage from one instance is turned to life-point gain!"

Bakura's eyes widened as the wave of energy consumed the three monsters, and Dartz's life-points shot up to 19900.

"Damn… Fine! Reign-Beaux, Demon Dragon! ATTACK!" The demon king slammed its staff into Dartz's chest, and the huge dragon let lose a ball of black energy, which hit him head on. The green-haired man was completely un-phased.

(Kaiba: 2550, Bakura: 8000, Dartz: 14400)

"I end my turn," said Bakura through gritted teeth.

Dartz was relaxed as he drew. "Impressive moves, both of you. But I have just drawn the card necessary to show you the true hopelessness of attempting to defeat the Prince of Atlantis, and the true lord of the Orichalcos."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I have the perfect strategy to eliminate not only your God card, but also you pathetic fusion," chuckled Anubis.

Yami narrowed his eyes. "Really? Enlighten me."

"I'd be happy to. I first activate Book of Life, to special summon Nova Dragon of the Abyss (2500/2500)." The tall, phantom-like dragon appeared, and roared at Yami.

"Summon Lighting Impact!" commanded the Pharaoh instantly. Anubis watched in mild amusement as Slifer spat out a ball of golden energy, that struck the demon dragon and caused it to roar in pain. It had scratches all over its body, as well as injured wings (500/2500).

"Book of Life allows me to remove from play a monster in your graveyard. I choose Obelisk." Yami grimaced and suppressed the god's anger as he slipped it into the removed from play pile. "No matter, Anubis. You have yet to deal with the god on the field."

"Bah! Next I play Graceful Charity!" He slipped two cards into his graveyard after drawing three.

"I discarded Makyura the Destructor (1600/1200), whose effect allows activation of trap card from my hand, for this turn. So I play Reverse Trap, which will reverse all increases and decreases in power this turn!"

Yami gasped as his Neo Dark Warlock Paladin (900/3000) as well as Slifer (3200/6000) both decreased to a level of strength far less below that of the Nova Dragon of the Abyss (4500/2500).

"Attack his god card with Phantom Hell Burst!" The dragon opened its maw, and let lose a torrent of translucent black energy at the god. Slifer let lose a shriek of pain as the energy hit its chest. It tried to fire a ball of energy back at its attacker, but it was in vain. It gave a final roar before shattering.

There was a tiny earthquake as the monster exploded. A god had bee destroyed, and New York was feeling the results. They weren't pleasant.

(Anubis: 5900, Yami: 2250)

"Next I play Demon Sacrifice! I can sacrifice a dark monster on my field to destroy all weaker monsters on your field." The Nova Dragon burst, and it let lose a wave of energy, shattering the Neo Dark Warlock Paladin.

"Damn…" snarled Yami.

Anubis smirked. "I set a card and end my turn."

Yami drew. With all their powerful monsters gone, it was literally a new duel.

He looked over his hand. It wasn't worth being offensive right now. "I summon a monster in defense mode, and end my duel."

Anubis smirked as he drew. "Here's a little trick I picked up from the wench we let down there." Yami's eyes darkened. "SHUT UP! Don't you dare talk about Tea like that!"

Anubis ignored him. "I activate Graceful Charity, and I discard two Repayment of Losses, which means I draw a net total of four cards." He fanned out his five card hand, and smirked.

"I summon Underworld Knight (2000/0)!" A black knight mounted on a horse appeared. Its eyes glowed red, and it was dressed in heavy armor. The horse was armored as well, and it let out a dark growl upon seeing Yami.

"Next up is my Tribute Doll, which allows me to sacrifice a monster on the field in order to special summon a level seven monster from my hand. I choose the Hellfire Magician (2500/2100)!" A morbid howl echoed through the field, and a mage appeared on the field, clad in fiery red armor. It held a long, black staff, and its eyes reflected evil beyond imagination.

"By sacrificing my battle phase when its summoned, Hellfire Magician allows me to draw two cards."

Anubis snapped the top two cards off his deck. "I end my turn, since Tribute Doll forces me not to attack with the chosen monster this turn."

Yami drew. He could deal with twenty-five hundred attack points in time, but thought it wiser to wait and watch Anubis' strategy. But then again, if he summoned something powerful, it was nothing but trouble…

Anyway, he didn't have anything with over twenty-five hundred attack points that he could summon at this point. "I set a card and end my turn."

Anubis was quite amused as he drew his next card. "You know me well enough not to take this battle lightly, Pharaoh. I shall prove to you again that I am supreme! I equip my monster with Hellfire Spear! This will allow me to destroy your monster without flipping it over, and also gives it trample. Hellfire Magic Attack!"

A long, blazing spear replaced the mage's black staff. With a howl, it flung the weapon at the facedown card.

Yami smirked. "Time for some much needed life-points. I activate Draining Shield, negating your attack and adding your Hellfire Magician's attack points to my life-points!" A huge, translucent shield appeared and blocked the attack.

(Anubis: 5900, Yami: 4750)

Anubis scowled. "I end my turn."

Yami smirked. "Your monster is a sick and perverted version of my Dark Magician. This is why I play Monster Resurrection! This lets me revive a monster that has been removed from play. I choose my very own Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

The black robed mage vanished in a small flash of light, but replacing him was a stronger mage in purple armor with flowing purple robes. He wore a strange set of armor, with a strange mage's hat, and had a powerful green staff that was nearly as tall as his body. His long hair that could be seen hanging out of his hat was purple and his eyes were the color of lilac.

"Next comes Soul Release! I remove from play Buster Blader, Titan of Ra, my Soldier of Ra, and two Soldiers of Obelisk." Silhouettes of the five monsters appeared and disappeared.

"Excellent… Next comes Chaos Essence! Any monster equipped with this card gains three hundred attack and defense points for every monster removed from play. I have five, meaning my magician far surpasses yours!"

Yami's magician (4000/3600) glowed with chaotic energy as its power increased substantially. "Dark Magic Attack!" Raising his staff, the purple armored mage fired a blast of green energy straight at the blazing sorcerer. Upon impact, the monster instantly shattered with a cry of pain.

Yami gave a slight smirk. "End turn."

It was back to Anubis. He smirked. "So quickly your magician rose, and so quickly he will fall. I use the effect of your Fusion Gate, removing Hell Soldier (2500/2100) and a second Underworld Knight (2000/0) from play, in order to summon Dark Demon Lord (2800/2500)!"

A black-scaled humanoid demon wearing regal robes appeared on the field. It carried a long, red daemon blade, and its eyes glowed purple. It let out a horrible shriek upon seeing Yami.

"My monster will crush yours!" spat Yami.

"Not quite, Pharaoh. Dark Demon Lord cannot be destroyed in battle, and also has the ability to destroy any monster in battle. So, attack his Dark Magician with Dark Demonic Crash!" The monster raised its sword, and brought it down on the magician, who tried to block it with its staff, but was slashed in half anyway.

"I lose twelve hundred life-points, but its unimportant," chuckled Anubis.

(Anubis: 4700, Yami: 4750)

"Can you believe it, Pharaoh?" chuckled Anubis. "I never believed that we'd be so close in power. Only fifty life-points separate us."

Yami glared at him, and drew. "You shall pay for destroying my Dark Magician! I set one card facedown, and a monster in defense mode. I end my turn."

"I'm not paying anything yet," smirked Anubis. "Dark Demon Lord…. Obliterate!"

Yami grunted in anger as his facedown monster was destroyed by a blow from the large demon's blade. "I set a card and end my turn."

Yami drew, eying Anubis cautiously. "I summon Yellow Gadget (1200/1200)!" Then he slammed the card down on his Disk, and the strange little yellow machine with spinning gears for shoulders, tiny limbs, and a single red eye materialized in front of him and shot off steam from its body as it happily threw out its arms and legs in the air before slowly descending to the ground on its tiny legs and staring at Anubis.

"I play Effect Economics," continued Yami. "Now I don't have to pay life-points for any kind of effect," he chuckled.

"He lets me add Green Gadget (1400/600) to my hand. I activate my facedown Ultimate Offering, which lets me pay five hundred life-points to summon another monster. I immediately summon Green Gadget!" A monster that looked just like Yellow Gadget, except that it was a green color, materialized and also held up its arms, preparing to do battle.

"I add Red Gadget (1300/1500) to my hand, and immediately summon him!" Then another machine monster appeared: a third Gadget monster similar in comparison to Green Gadget and Yellow Gadget. Only difference, it was colored red.

Anubis wasn't impressed. "Three weak machines. Do you think they can defeat me?"

Yami glared, and held up another card. "They will not, but this card will. This card was from Yugi's grandfather's deck, and unlike the other cards, he possessed this long before your organizations sick magic infected him. I summon a monster so powerful, that even the deadliest fiends shook with terror upon hearing his name… I summon _**Gilford the Lightning **_(2800/1400)!!!!"

The three gadgets disappeared, and a bolt of lightning crashed down on the roof, and a large figure appeared from within the light. He was a huge, hulking, muscular man, barely dressed in orange armor and white gauntlets. He had an iron mask that covered his face, with spikes protruding from it. On his back was a huge sword whose blade crackled with deadly electricity.

"That grandiose warrior isn't going to do much," rumbled Anubis.

"Really? When I sacrifice three monsters to summon him, Gilford will destroy all your monsters!"

"WHAT?!" roared Anubis angrily.

"RAIGEKI BLADE!" roared Yami, as Gilford the Lightning slowly unsheathed his sword from the scabbard on his back. He swung it vertically, creating an arc of lightning energy which slammed right into the Dark Demon Lord, slicing it in half.

Anubis stood still, unable to absorb the fact that his monster had been destroyed.

"Now, attack him directly with Thunderbolt Cut!" Gilford right towards its new master's opponent, and swung his blade down, sending a stream of electricity with it. The attack collided with Anubis causing him to grunt in pain as the lightning wracked his nerves.

He snarled angrily… This wasn't like his duel against Kagemaru, Kaiba, or the girl… Pain was nothing to him.

And then it hit him. The part of himself he had put in the child Yuki… The part he had put in Kaiba's mind… That was it!

The God of Death was furious with himself. He had been taking his own power for granted! He needed his own energy if he was to stand up to the might of the Pharaoh. But he had underestimated his opponents. It seemed like the Thief King and Kaiba had destroyed the part of his body that resided within the latter's mind… The part in Yuki; he doubted that they had destroyed that. What had happened?

He grimaced, and shook off the thought. He had work to do.

(Anubis: 1900, Yami: 3550)

"I'll end my turn with one card facedown," said Yami with a deep chuckle.

Anubis drew, and glared at him. That damned warrior… Nothing could beat it at this point.

"I set one card facedown in defense mode and end my turn."

Yami considered his move as he drew. He didn't have a monster, most unfortunately. But then again… "Gilford… Thunderbolt Cut! ANNHILATE HIS MONSTER!" he roared in anger.

The warrior brought his blade down, and lightning cut a path across the field towards the brown-backed card, which was immediately sliced in half upon impact. Strangely enough, Anubis seemed happy. "Excellent…. You destroyed my Demon Reaper (1000/1500). When he's destroyed, I can shuffle two monsters from my graveyard back into my deck."

He found the two necessary cards, and added them to his deck.

Yami shrugged. "End turn."

Anubis drew, his hands crackling with power. "I activate my facedown trap card, Tower on the Pyramid! It lets me activate the Pyramid of Light from my graveyard!"

Yami gasped as the huge, glowing pyramid formed around them, and the said artifact on Anubis' neck began glowing wildly as it reacted to the strength of what its master had summoned.

"I summon my two mighty sphinxes… Andro Sphinx (3000/2500) and Sphinx Teleia (2500/3000)!" The two sphinxes rose up, and roared at Yami.

Yami bit his lip. Andro Sphinx was much stronger than Gilford, but luckily they couldn't attack on the turn they were summoned. Anubis had summoned Sphinx Teleia in defense mode, so if unless he summoned something with over three thousand attack points, he had no chance of defeating the two sphinxes.

"I don't plan to wait when it comes to tearing you apart, Pharaoh!" thundered Anubis. Yami gasped, as he realized exactly what Anubis planned to do. "NO!"

"YES! I play Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying the Pyramid of Light!" The cyclone crashed into the walls of the massive pyramid, destroying it. The fragments disappeared before they hit the ground, and as Yami expected, the two sphinxes were vaporized as well.

He smirked. "I can pay 500 life-points, which is instantly negated, to special summon Theinen the Great Sphinx (3500/3000)!!!"

There was a small shake, which caused Yami to stumble. Shadows were coalescing from all over the place. The point of accumulation was beginning to take shape. Soon, the shadows disappeared to reveal a new creature. A monster that looked like a combination of the two sphinxes that were just destroyed then appeared. Its torso up was made up of the blonde haired sphinx, but on his back was the female sphinx. Below his torso, the sphinx had the female sphinx's body. It had two large, golden wings.

"My soul monster has arrived," chuckled Anubis.

It was a strange sight to see the titanic sphinx attempting to squeeze itself into the confined space of the Empire State Building's terrace.

"I activate its effect, to boost its attack points by three thousand!" The hybrid sphinx (6500/3000) could now crush Gilford with pathetic ease.

"RAGE OF THE SPHINX!" roared Anubis.

The large sphinx rushed forward, claws raised and ready to destroy anything in his way. Gilford raised its sword, and attempted to attack the oncoming beast, but the fist hit its chest head on. It roared in pain as it shattered.

Yami fell to his knees, clutching his chest in pain. "Damn it…"

(Anubis: 1900, Yami: 1050)

"You will fall, Pharaoh!" thundered Anubis.

Yami was exhausted, and Anubis knew it. His duel with Arkana had been decent, but his battle against Solomon was insane. And now this duel had dragged on for so long… If he didn't end it now, he would lose.

"_It would be a good time to come into the equation, Heart of the Cards_," he thought grimly as he drew.

He picked up the next card, and a slow smile spread across his face. "Anubis… Your time has come."

Anubis glared at him. "I am a god! I am accountable to no one. I am out of the power of destiny, and I make my own destiny. I have decided that I am destined to defeat you! I am destined to kill all who oppose me. I am the supreme power of all existence! I AM GOD!" He threw back his head and began laughing.

Yami was unperturbed by his outburst. He folded his cards and put them in his pocket.

Anubis continued recklessly. "I am more than god. I am the devil himself. You see, God think of eternity… Satan reasons like a man. You believe that just because the heavens will it that you are supposed to vanquish me, forces beyond our understanding come into play and make it so. I know that no matter what, I will prevail, not because of some old chicken scratch on a rock, but because I know my own strength. I will crush you beneath my heel, Pharaoh, not because God wills it… But because _**I**_ will it!"

Yami glared at him. "You disgust me. I will show you that my destiny is as real as I am, and will overpower you any day."

He held up his first card. I play Graceful Charity." He quickly slipped two cards into his graveyard, but not before drawing three. He chuckled, and continued, "Here goes… Premature Burial! I use it to raise from th graveyard my Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

Appearing without a moment's hesitation was the purple robed mage once more. He instantly crossed his arms with his staff in hand upon his reappearance.

"Useless," sneered Anubis. "Just you wait, Anubis. My soul monster will defeat yours! I activate Cost Down, discarding a card to reduce the level of all monsters in my hand by two. I discard Repayment of Losses, so I draw another card." He looked over his hand, satisfied at his new card.

"I now summon Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!" A young woman with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a skimpy blue and pink mage's dress that showed her cleavage quite well with the dress barely covering her back side, a blue and pink mage's hat, and a staff in her right hand took to the field. She smiled at her master.

Thenein roared at the pair of monsters. "Your magicians are no match for the might of Thenein!" roared Anubis.

Yami smirked. "I don't think that's entirely accurate. You see, you forgot that I can play Dedication through Light and Darkness, which allows me to sacrifice Dark Magician in order to summon my Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

Lightning instantly began striking the field rapidly in a single area. After a few moments, a figure appeared in the striking and slowly burst out of the bolts. Once the lightning finally stopped, a mage decked out in black leather armor, with an odd mage's hat, blue skin shown only on his face, and a black staff in his hand appeared. The mage finally opened his eyes, revealing strange yellow corneas and red irises.

"He lets me bring back one magic card, and I have none to choose but Monster Reborn!" He pulled the card out of his graveyard slot, and immediately played it. "Return…. Dark Magician!" The purple robed mage appeared again.

Anubis roared with laughter. "Your three most powerful spellcasters… All useless!"

"Useless? I don't think so, Anubis. Not if I equip my Dark Magician with United We Stand!" The powerful mage then began to glow with new a new strength. Like Yugi, his strength came from his friends.

Anubis watched in horror as the dark aura surrounding the powerful mage began to grow stronger by the minute. Finally, the mage was done powering up and opened his eyes to stare at its masters opponent. The mage then swung his staff in front of himself till finally it was pointing at Anubis (2500 2400 4900/2100 2400 4500).

Thenein roared, apparently unaware of how weak it was compared to the Dark Magician.

"NO! YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME AGAIN!" screamed Anubis, his anger echoing through the night sky of New York.

"I just did. Unity Magic Attack!" The Dark Magician glared at Anubis. At last, the mage had enough power to finish the job. He then took aim with his staff and fired a powerful blast of dark energy at Thenein. The sphinx stood his ground and didn't do a thing as he was hit by the powerful blast. The titanic creature just stood there like a statue still till he was finally obliterated.

The blast continued on and struck Anubis, knocking him off his feet.

Yami fell to his knees, gasping in exhaustion. He had barely won.

(Anubis: 0, Yami: 200)

The monsters and the background of the Fusion Gate slowly disappeared. Yami heaved up, and Anubis did the same. The latter's face was marred with fury.

"YOU MAY HAVE DEFEATED ME IN A DUEL, PHARAOH, BUT I CAN STILL KILL YOU!"

He held up his hand as if he was about to fire a blast to knock Yami over the side of the building, when the ancient Pharaoh grinned.

"We were dueling in a Tournament of Shadows, Anubis. The loser forfeits his soul, until the winner of the tournament chooses to release him." Suddenly, Anubis froze. He attempted to shout something, but it seemed like his jaws were shut tight.

Tendrils of darkness seemed to wrap around him from nowhere. Ever so slowly, the wicked God of Death, the entity that lived for the pain and suffering of others, began to disappear.

Yami stayed in front of him as he disappeared, and gave him a pitying look. His soul was now trapped in the Shadow Realm.

Slowly, the King of Games began to walk out of the terrace, waiting to get to Dartz's duel against Kaiba, Bakura, Kevin, and Kyle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dartz chuckled. "This keeps getting better and better…. I activate the magic card, Ancient Atlantis Summon! It lets me special summon four Atlantis Soldier Tokens (500 500 1000/500) to the field." Four men dressed in regular armor appeared, carrying thin blades.

"I sacrifice two to my Citadel, drawing four cards." He looked over his hand of six cards, and continued, "I then sacrifice my other two cards to summon one of my personal favorites… Dark King of Atlantis (3000 500 3500/2800)!"

The two monsters disappeared, only to be replaced by a huge, hulking figure. It was about ten feet tall, and wore golden armor. It had a crown, and although one would think that it was benevolent, the gigantic battle-axe it held said differently. Its eyes reflected an imperialistic sense, and it gave a battle cry as it descended onto the field.

"When he's summoned to the field by tribute summon, I can special summon any three Atlantis monsters in my graveyard, although of course I must discard one card per monster. Two of the discarded cards were Repayment of Losses, meaning I get to revive my three Brute Soldiers of Atlantis, and draw twice!"

The insanity of Dartz's combos were getting to Bakura. As the three huge warriors appeared on the field, the various effects began to pump up all of Dartz's monsters… (Dark King: 4700/2800, Brute Soldiers: 3800/1400 x3)

"Now, my army is complete," chuckled Dartz. "The Atlantis monsters were always more powerful than my Orichalcos beatdown strategy. Now, you will face their full power! Dark King of Atlantis, destroy the Thief King's pathetic Inferno Emperor!"

Bakura grunted, but knew that this move was wiser. "I activate Platinnum's final ability, which forces me to sacrifice him and discard a Dark World monster from my hand. You will be unable to attack for turns the monster's level divided by two."

The huge king disappeared, and Bakura slipped his card into the graveyard. "I discarded Zure, Knight of the Dark World (1800/1500), which means you are forced to refrain from attacks for this turn, as well as the next."

The dark king was about to bring his axe down, when he was thrown back by an invisible barrier. Bakura smirked. "I am the Dark King, and you must never forget that! Atlantis has fallen, so has Egypt. But the Dark World will never fall!"

Dartz smirked at this. "I set a card and end my turn."

Kaiba drew. "I activate my facedown Call of the Haunted, in order to revive XYZ Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!" The mechanical combo creature appeared, and gave a strange groan.

"Next I summon V-Tiger Jet (1600/1800) in attack mode!" A tiger-shaped machine appeared on the field, with wings painted blue and jets on its underside, but there were also extremely sharp claws, made of metal, extending out of its hand.

"Then I play Quick Summon, which allows me to special summon W-Wing Catapult (1300/1500)!" Yet another mechanical creature materialized next to the V-Tiger Jet. This one was completely colored blue, with wings sticking out to its sides just like the V-Tiger Jet's. No weapons could be seen on it, but much like the Z-Metal Tank, there was a sliding panel on its back.

"V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult, merge to form the VW-Tiger Catapult (2000/2100)!"

The two Machines blasted up into the air with their jets, and the sliding doors on the W-Wing Catapult's back opened up just as the V-Tiger Jet moved up to hover above it. Then the tiger-like robot lowered itself onto the blue machine's back, fitting itself inside neatly, and forming a new war machine just like the XYZ-Dragon Cannon.

Dartz seemed unimpressed. "What are those pathetic creatures going to do? You've done nothing but summon weak monsters the entire duel!"

Kaiba sneered. "I'll show you just how 'weak' my monsters are. I union VW-Tiger Catapult and XYZ-Dragon Cannon in order to summon one of my ultimate monsters! Meet the VWXYZ- Dragon Catapult Cannon (3000/2800)!"

The two fused machines separated completely into their components once again, and started doing a self-construction of themselves. As they were doing so, an intense flash of energy engulfed the whole throne room.

Finally, the light cleared to reveal one of the most dreaded machines ever.

The Z-Metal Tank was split in half and was serving as the new robot's arms and shoulders. The Y-Dragon Head's wings extended from behind its back and spread themselves out wide, and its body was the torso of the whole machine. The W-Wing Catapult was also split in half just like the Y-Dragon Head and serving as the machine's legs. The X-Head Cannon was completely whole, and it served as the head of the entire humanoid-shaped machine, its guns sticking out far ahead of itself. And lastly, the V-Tiger Jet served as the jetpack on the new machine's back, and was still entirely whole too, but its arms and legs had retracted to its inside. It was a complete fusion of the five machines.

"Well, it's flashy and everything, but three thousand attack points isn't exactly going to help you, is it?"

Kaiba gave a hollow chuckle. "You don't realize its effect, do you? I can discard a card to remove a card on your field from play. Mega Annihilation!"

The gigantic VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon pointed its guns at the facedown Monster, and shot a burst of destructive blue energy at its target. As it neared the Dark King of Atlantis, the monster snapped its battle axe forward, and deflected the attack back towards Kaiba. He barely ducked, and it hit a wall behind him.

"What the-…"

"My Dark King is more than just attack points. He prevents all Atlantis monsters from being targeted by monster effects," smirked Dartz.

Kaiba cursed in anger. "Damn it! Arghhh… Fine! I end my turn."

It was back to the mighty Thief King. He gave a meager smile. "Yes… This is excellent. I sacrifice Reign-Beaux, as well as the Demon Dragon, for my Thief King of the Desert – Bakura (2500/2000)!"

Kaiba sweat-dropped anime style and Dartz raised an eyebrow as the demon was replaced by a monster that looked similar to the duelist who owned it. However, the monster Bakura was dressed in red robes, and his skin was much darker. His face was scarred. He drew a knife and glared at Dartz.

The duelist looked fondly at it. "He's a rather special card. Think of him as what Kaibaman is to you, Kaiba. Anyway, he allows me to discard a card from my hand in order to discard one from yours."

Dartz shrugged, and Bakura continued to grin. "You see, I discarded a second Reign-Beaux, Overlord of the Dark World (2500/1800), which means I can immediately summon him to the field!" Another black demon appeared, and let lose a useless wave of energy at the monsters on Dartz's field. He gave a small chuckle as they splattered off his monsters.

"Also, I draw one card every time a dark monster is special summoned." He snapped the top card off his deck and gave Dartz a sour look. "I end my turn."

Dartz gave Bakura a chilling smile as he drew. "Unfortunately, I can't do anything thanks to your Platinnum, except this. I summon Dark Queen of Atlantis (1200 2200 3400/2200)!" A beautiful woman appeared. She was the image of perfection, with long, russet brown curls coming down to her shoulders. She was dressed in a flowing, emerald dress. However, her eyes were haunted, and one could tell that she was dead.

Bakura and Kaiba watched in shock as the woman joined her hands and began to sing. Her voice was haunting, and even these two duelists, men of steel in their own ways, felt the hair on their backs straighten up at the sound of her deathly voice.

"What the hell is that abomination?" gasped Bakura.

Dartz's eyes darkened, and the Dark Queen's features flared. Suddenly, Bakura found that breathing was a bit difficult.

"Never. Insult. My. Wife," said Dartz coldly. As he finished his sentence, Bakura found his breath coming back, and he fell gasping to his knees. "Damn you…"

Dartz glared at him. "Damn me? You fool! I am the one who will bring Paradise unto this godforsaken planet!" He raised his hand and clenched it into a fist as he spoke.

"For thousands of years, mankind has abused the gift of order that had been so generously given to them. Look at the world today: terrorism, crime, CHAOS!" He spoke the last word with distaste. "The gods are unhappy with the state of this planet. They gave this pitiful excuse for a race such wonderful order, something that could be cherished for an eternity. Yet, men like the two of you simply choose to scorn the gifts of your superiors, and embroil yourselves in a hopeless battle against the divinity of Order! You fools believe that in Chaos, your lives will be made easier! I have been chosen to use the might of the Orichalcos to impose order on mankind, for without order, there is no purpose, and without purpose, there will be destruction."

Bakura's look of shock changed to anger. "Bah!" he spat. "I am the Thief King of the Desert, and believe me when I tell you that life has been a living hell. Order is a naïve ideal, especially in the twenty-first century."

He pointed at Dartz. "The world ceased to need someone like you ten thousand years ago. Just make your move."

Dartz glared at him. "Since I can't attack, I'm forced to end my turn."

Kaiba drew slowly. He still didn't have anything in his arsenal to destroy Dartz's army. He suddenly noticed what he had drawn, and gave his trademark smirk. "I sacrifice my Vorse Raider and Super Vorse Raider in order to summon the BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON (3000/2500)!"

The incredibly huge white dragon appeared on Kaiba's field, clad in its usual white armor. Its wings cast a shadow across the room, and it let lose an earth-shaking roar. Kaiba held up another card, and continued, "Activate, Burst Stream of Destruction! In exchange for not attacking this turn, my Blue Eyes will wipe out every single one of your pathetic monsters!"

The Blue-Eyes released a gigantic wave of energy which enveloped Dartz's entire field. The Atlantian's eyes blazed. "The Dark Queen of Atlantis is destined to protect her subjects! By sacrificing her, I can protect all monsters on my field from any kind of destruction this turn."

The haunting woman let lose a scream, and the sound was so loud, that it blew away the dragon's assault. At the same time, she exploded into millions of tiny pixels.

Kaiba stood there, shocked. Their golden chance to destroy Dartz's monsters was gone.

"I…. end my turn."

The Thief King was by no means ready to give up hope. But he still had nothing to destroy the veritable group of monsters that stood before him.

"I switch Thief King of the Desert - Bakura and Reign-Beaux to defense mode. End turn."

Dartz drew, a sickly satisfied grin on his face. He held up his new card. "How excellent… I spoke of order, and now you shall experience the full power of Light!"

Kaiba retorted, "Idiot. We're the ones who are fighting for Light, and to stop madmen like you from screwing up this planet, that we're all very happy with."

"I don't think my new monster would be inclined to agree," smirked Dartz. He placed the card on his Duel Disk, and a short man dressed in pure white robes, and carrying a cross appeared. His beard was long and flowing, and he had white hair. However, his eyes reflected anger.

"Priest of Atlantis (500 2200 2700/1500) has come forth, and he will punish all non-believers and heretics! Order is essential, and my monsters will show you that. Priest of Atlantis allows one monster on the field to attack you directly, although he is the only monster who is allowed to attack this turn. I choose my Dark King of Atlantis!"

The emperor let lose a roar that would make people quail with fear.

"Now, attack Kaiba directly and eliminate this envoy of Chaos!" The monarch grasped its massive axe, and shot off across the field towards the CEO. Kaiba stared it down as the Blue Eyes roared and spat out a ball of lightning at the oncoming attacker. The Dark King simply whacked it aside and continued on its eventual path towards its target.

Bakura wasn't going to stand by and do nothing though. "I activate the Thief King's final ability, sacrificing him to end your battle phase immediately!" The thief on Bakura's field tensed its legs, and sprang in between Kaiba and the oncoming monster. It let lose a shriek of pain as it was sliced in half by the attack, but it did the purpose of protecting them for one more turn.

Dartz scowled. "Such un-cooperation is vexing. I end my turn."

Kaiba drew angrily. "I switch Blue Eyes and VWXYZ Dragon Catapult Cannon to defense mode. Then I set a card and end my turn." The towering machine knelt down, and the deadly dragon folded its wings around itself.

Bakura smirked at his next card. "Perfect. I sacrifice my Reign-Beaux in order to summon Great Maju Garzett (?/0)!"

The hideous demon began to quake in horror as it's very essence was dragged into the earth from which it was spawned, and even through the sandstone its ungodly screams echoed as something else took it's place. At the same time, a huge pit had burst open, shooting dark flames as it did so. As if from the will of darkness, a massive silhouette was placed against the fires of the pit, and a long, hooked claw dragged this abomination of nature to the surface. Brimming with hatred, the demon's essence was sheathed beneath plate-like armor, and its deadly fangs were dripping with Reign-Beaux's energy.

"My Great Maju Garzett (5000/0) has double the attack points of the monster that was sacrificed for it. Now, my fiend, obliterate his pathetic Dark King of Atlantis!"

"_Impossible!" _Dartz thought in shock as the disgusting creature let lose a shriek and bodily ripped his monarch apart with its terrible claws. "_The Thief King overcame my strategy!_"

(Kaiba: 2550, Bakura: 8000, Dartz: 14100)

The Priest of Atlantis exploded as well. "When my Dark King is destroyed, he takes my weakest monster with him," said Dartz testily.

"Go ahead and make your move, Dartz," smirked Bakura, "But not before I set a card."

The prince drew angrily. Now his Brute Soldiers had only thirty-eight hundred attack points. It was enough to destroy either of Kaiba's monsters, but that monstrosity on the Thief King's field would rip it apart. Still, Kaiba could use his VWXYZ- Dragon Catapult Cannon's ability next turn to put his monsters out of commission. Of course, he wasn't willing to risk anything like that.

Suddenly, Bakura gave a howl of laughter. "Here goes my facedown Destiny Board! At the end of your turn, I get to activate one of the Spirit Message cards from my deck or hand. Destiny Board is the Spirit Message 'F'. When your turn ends, I will get to add Spirit Message 'I'. When all five Spirit Messages are activate, I win."

A board appeared in front of Bakura, and he gave a malicious grin. The fiery blue letter 'F' burned on the board as a looking glass moved over the letter.

Dartz growled at this new development. It was annoying, least to say.

"Brute Soldier One, annihilate Kaiba's machine!" The warrior raised its sword, and tore off across the field towards the combo machine.

Kaiba gave a chuckle. "I activate my facedown Windstorm of Etaqua, to switch all your monsters to defense mode." A sudden gust of wind slammed into the attacking monsters, knocking them to their knees.

Dartz was angry. "I end my turn." The blazing letter 'I' appeared on the board above Bakura. Three turns to victory.

Kaiba drew maliciously. "You've been making me very angry this entire duel. As I'm sure you would realize, for me that's a very bad thing. First I switch both monsters to attack mode, and then I discard three cards from my hand to remove all three of your Brute Soldiers of Atlantis from play!"

The huge machine let lose a barrage of energy at the three warriors on Dartz's field, obliterating them. "Since one was Repayment of Losses, I get a draw." He chuckled and looked at his new card.

"I also activate my facedown Metalmorph, to grant my Blue Eyes three hundred bonus attack and defense points. Whenever it battles a monster, it gains half that monster's attack points!" (3300/2800)

The dragon began to glow silver, and it attained a mechanical look, with longer talons, and finer scales.

"Now, Blue Eyes, attack his life-points directly with Mecha White Lightning!" The dragon opened its maw, and let lose a torrent of blazing white energy at the prince of Atlantis.

"You will not be able to deal me that damage, for I activate my facedown card, Dark Betrayal. I can now pay a thousand life-points to transfer all your attacks this turn to any target of my choice. Now, the new target of the White Dragon shall be the fiendish creature that the Thief King controls!"

The dragon (5800/2800) snapped its neck around, and the two stunned duelists watched as the attack slammed into the towering demon, vaporizing it.

(Kaiba: 2550, Bakura: 7200, Dartz: 13100)

Kaiba growled. If he attacked with his VWXYZ- Dragon Catapult Cannon, Dartz would simply redirect the attack to Bakura. "Fine. I end my turn."

Bakura drew uneasily. Even though Dartz's most powerful monster was gone, he felt worried, knowing that the Atlantian had far more up his sleeve. He grimaced when he recalled the pulse of power he had felt all those years ago when the Great Leviathan had been summoned. It was an impossibly strong creature, and Bakura knew that it had taken the combined might of all three Egyptian gods to defeat it. Knowing that Dartz was the one who controlled such power wasn't exactly comforting.

Bakura gave Dartz a cold smile and slipped another card into his magic and trap zone. "I set a card, an summon Brron, Mad King of the Dark World (1800/400) in attack mode!" An insane cackle was heard. A second later, a purely insane-looking skeletal fiend dressed in kingly robes, with long, lanky arms and a wild hairdo appeared, laughing insanely. It hoisted up a spear.

"Brron…. Attack him directly!" The Mad King flung its spear at the green-haired man. He tightened his jaw slightly as the spear hit his chest, but it was the only indication of pain that he gave at all.

(Kaiba: 2550, Bakura: 7200, Bakura: 12300)

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Kyle watched the duel with a hard look on his face. He knew of Bakura's strategy, and it was truly deadly. However, after seeing how Dartz had decimated Kevin, he knew that the Atlantian would in no way be bested so easily. Still, he had seventy-two hundred life-points left, and hopefully, Dartz would be unable to do sufficient damage in the three turns he had to do so.

However, if one of them lost, Kyle would be forced to step in. He looked at his deck, thinking of the last minute adjustments he had made when Yami had given him the Chaos monsters.

He had sworn to defeat Dartz if faced with the opportunity. By God, he would do it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dartz drew, and Bakura gave a cruel grin. "I activate Death Summon from my hand, which allows me to activate the next Spirit Message from my deck!" 'N' was imprinted into the board above Bakura.

Dartz continued drawing as if nothing had happened. "I summon Archer of Atlantis (1800 500 2300/1500)!" A lean man dressed in flowing robes appeared. He held a bow and a quiver of arrows was slung across his back. His eyes reflected cold and hard hate.

"My archer will shoot down your Brron!" The warrior let lose an arrow, which transformed into a blazing streak. It hit the mad king full on, causing him to shriek as he was burnt to bits.

(Kaiba: 2550, Bakura: 6700, Dartz: 12300)

"_That's foolish_," thought Kaiba. "_It's a walking target for my monsters_."

"I end my turn." The fourth Spirit Message, 'A', appeared on the board in front of Bakura.

Kaiba drew, knowing that victory was only moments away, but he would attack either ways. "I discard a card to remove your monster from play!" The machine unleashed a barrage of energy at the archer, destroying it.

"Now, both my monsters will attack you directly!" The Blue Eyes and VWXYZ- Dragon Catapult Cannon each hit Dartz with powerful attacks.

However, Dartz wasn't done. "I discard Kuriboh Knight of Atlantis (300/200) to reduce all damage done by your dragon to zero."

(Kaiba: 2550, Bakura: 6700, Dartz: 9300)

Bakura gave a brazen chuckle as he drew. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn. The duel ends here, Dartz." A brown-backed card appeared horizontally in front of him.

The Atlantian had a playful look in his eyes. "Well, I don't have anything to destroy your Destiny Board. Nothing at all. However, I could simply defeat you, ending that extra threat."

Bakura glared at him. "What makes you think you have the capability to deal me sixty-seven hundred points of damage? It's over."

"No…" smirked the Lord of the Orichalcos. "In fact, it has just begun! Watch, as I play Monarch's Revival, which lets me special summon a monster in my graveyard with the word 'King' in its name, regardless of summoning cost. I choose to revive Dark King of Atlantis (3000 500 3500/2800)!" The large warlord with its heft battle-axe materialized onto Dartz's field.

"Next I play the magic card of your doom! Go, Shadow Fusion!" The Dark King of Atlantis began to glow, as did Dartz.

"What the hell is going on?" gasped Bakura.

"Well, the effect of Ancient Fusion allows me to fuse myself with the Dark King of Atlantis! It's over, Thief King! The end has come!" As he said these words, the ground began to tremble, and suddenly, both the Atlantian and his monster vanished. "What the-…"

The throne room had not a trace of darkness prior to this, but very slowly, shadows began to creep in. Bakura heard a heavy foot coming down on the ground some way from them. He turned to look, and saw a horribly large figure making its way to the field.

It was Dartz, but he had changed. He was about eight feet tall, and wore black armor. He had a strong helmet fitted on his head, and wielded a deadly-looking battle-axe. His eyes shimmered red, and danced back to green, at times. On his other arm was a Duel Disk, and he still held his cards.

"I am Eternal Emperor of Atlantis- Dartz (?/?)."

Bakura stared at him as if he was a freak. "You… You combined yourself with your monster?"

"Yes, I did. Now, I can take care of any threat you pose to me, Thief King," said Dartz coldly. "My attack points and defense points are equal to my life-points." He shimmered with dark energy as his attack points skyrocketed (9300/9300).

"Ninety-three hundred?!" Kaiba faltered. One attack could take him out, but Bakura's monster was in defense mode, which meant that they would still win.

"I have the ability to deal damage through defense, but however, I cannot attack the turn that I am special summoned. Also, when this monster is destroyed, I lose," continued the Emperor, a sick grin spreading across his face.

"_Why's he grinning like that_?" wondered Kaiba.

"Then this was all for nothing!" shot back Bakura.

"Really? I play Quick Attack, allowing me to attack the turn I am summoned, regardless of any restrictions."

Bakura's eyes widened, knowing he was the target. His facedown Morphing Jar (700/600) was nowhere near powerful enough to withstand Dartz's attack.

Bakura watched in horror as Dartz slipped his cards into a crevice of his armor. The massive figure rushed forward and brought his huge battle-axe down on the facedown card.

"WAIT!" roared Kaiba as he watched the face down card image shatter to reveal a jar with a small large single eyeball creature. It then exploded, and the remainder of the damage slammed into Bakura, knocking him up against the barrier of the seal.

As he fell, he chuckled darkly, saying "Thanks for flipping my Morphing Jar (700/600). When it's flipped, we each must discard our hands and draw five new cards."

"RYOU BAKURA CAN GO INSTEAD!" snapped Kaiba. The Thief King chuckled darkly as the Seal began to contract around him. "YOU"RE MUCH MORE VALUABLE THAN HIM!"

"Be honest with yourself, Kaiba," said Bakura quietly, even as he eyed the Seal coming up around him. "Do you think that after all I've done to that boy, he'd willingly take my place? And do you really believe that its within my own way of thinking to gladly give up my own soul in order to let him live? Beat this idiot, Kaiba. I may want to destroy humanity and take over the world, but at least I'm not a control freak."

In a final, insulting gesture, he glared at Dartz and spat, "Screw you," before the Seal took his soul. The Destiny Board shattered.

(Kaiba: 2550, Bakura: 0, Dartz: 9300)

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Kyle couldn't take it. This was the second soul that had fallen to Dartz today. Neither Hunter nor Bakura were innocent, but Dartz was a creep, who deserved to lose badly. He slowly pulled the Thief King's body to the side, and carefully laid him down next to Hunter's soulless body.

"Wait," said Kaiba in a distracted tone. "Don't duel. I'll do it myself."

"What, are you kidding?" scoffed Kyle. "No way I'm doing that. I want to take this creep down myself."

"Stupid kid!" exploded Kaiba, while Dartz watched in mild amusement. "Do you think that this is a game? Well, trust me, this is no game. This is war, and I don't want the guilt of allowing a teenager to literally sign his soul away weighing down on me!"

"You can't beat him alone," snarled Kyle. "If that happens, then _I _will face him alone, and I'm pretty sure I can't do it either. The only way to beat him is if we work together."

Without waiting for an answer, he took Bakura's place. Before Kaiba could say, anything, Dartz gave a sick laugh, and the Seal expanded back into its full form. "He's not going anywhere now, regardless of what you want, Kaiba!"

Kaiba glared at Kyle. "Damn it… Fine! Let's duel and get this over with."

"Hallmark couldn't have put it better," said Kyle quietly as his Duel Disk clicked into place. He fired off the holo projectors, and drew his first five cards, as per the effect of Bakura's Morphing Jar.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kyle: 8000, Dartz: 9300)

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**Kevin and Bakura have both fallen to Dartz. Now, will the master of mages and the lord of dragons be able to put aside their differences and work together against the might of the Prince of Atlantis? **

**At the same time, Yami has defeated Anubis, but I'm getting a strange feeling this is nowhere near over, not by a long shot. See it all next time.**

**Btw, Yamata Orochi – The Serpent Lord, and its ritual magic card are the property of Metal Overlord 2.0, an author whose fics never cease to be a good read. Thanks a lot for the card, and I hope that Anubis' use of it satisfied you. As always, Repayment of Losses is Seeker of the Soul's.**

**Anyway, I should have the next update done in the next few days, depending on how lazy I am. I'd like to remind you guys to read up on Wolf General's Demon Duelist Legacy stories, so that ya'll will be able to keep up in YuGiOh! Nightrise.**

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cya.**


	41. Chaos vs Order

CHAPTER FORTY: Chaos vs. Order

**Well, here's chapter forty-one. Hope you guys like it, because it took a while to write.**

**Mystralwind: Thanks about those lines. My favorite was always 'Screw you!'. This one won't have so many, unfortunately, but it will have intense dueling and a lot of history.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0.: I find myself wondering if Marik will use Orochi in your story… Although he won't need it after Janemba, lol. The Kuribohs were just a bit of fun, because I like those guys so much. I'll have you know they're one of my personal fav… Never mind. Anyway, hope you like this chapter bows.**

**Aelsthla-Mental****: Wow, someone holds me in high regard. I appreciate the praise, but I suggest reading the works of Wolf General and Seeker of the Soul to know what a truly awesome story is.**

**Mysticlife: Thanks a lot for the comments.**

"Tell me, child," said Dartz coldly, clenching his battle-axe. "Do you know pain?" "I know enough of pain to know that you're its primary cause," snapped Kyle, "which is why I'm going to make you wish you'd never been born!"

Kaiba looked pointedly at his opponent while he drew. At this point, defeating ninety-three hundred attack points was far beyond him. Even the advantage of Metalmorph's effect, his Blue Eyes would be at seventy-nine hundred and fifty, thirteen hundred and fifty short of being able to suicide with Dartz.

He could only hope that Kyle had something up his sleeve.

"I switch both monsters to defense mode, and add a facedown. That's all."

Kyle glared at Dartz as he drew. "I activate Dark Magic Curtain, paying half my life-points to summon the Dark Magician (2500/2100) from my deck!"

Instantly materializing onto the field was a platform with a large red curtain, the top half of a skeleton with a red collar, and a pentagram design etched circle. A black aura soon formed around Yugi and fed into the curtain creature. Once all the energy had been collected, the skeleton pulled open the curtain, allowing a figure to escape from it. The figure soon became clear and took form of the purple robed mage.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kyle: 4000, Dartz: 9300)

Kaiba glared. "You wasted four thousand life-points for that guy? He's worthless!"

Kyle ignored him. "The duel is already over. I play Thousand Knives!"

Materializing all around the purple robed mage were several glowing knives with maroon colored hilts.

"The monster I choose is no surprise, so destroy Dartz!"

Swinging his staff, the mage sent the knives forward. Each knife dug into the monarch, and he let lose a grunt of pain. "I'm-… not… done. Go, De-Fusion, which will divide me back into myself and the Dark King of Atlantis!"

There was a flash of light, and Dartz was back in his white robe, standing across the field from his opponents while the Dark King of Atlantis was completely skewered by the knives.

"As a duelist, I am not a viable target of your pathetic magic card. The Dark King was a part of the fusion, so it is the automatic target."

Kaiba frowned at this, but said nothing. "Fine," continued Kyle. "Destroy his Archer… Dark Magic Attack!"

Twirling his scepter, the purple robed mage let out a battle cry and pointed his staff at the robed warrior. The mage quickly released a green sphere of energy straight at the archer, which just stared on at the blast. In a huge explosion, the blast scored a hit, pushing Dartz backwards a bit.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kyle: 4000, Dartz: 9100)

"Of course, your attack barely scratched my life-points."

Kyle ignored him. "Fine. I set a card and end my turn."

Dartz drew, and a dark look crossed his face. "Time for the next level of power…"

Kaiba instantly realized what he was talking about. "_Damn it! This kid doesn't deserve this… Even if he is like a junior Pegasus._"

"I will now enhance the power of the seal by playing the spell card Orichalcos Deuteros!"

Waves of power then began to form through out the field. Then a second outer band was formed onto the seal, making the energy of the seal even stronger. "Now, Orichalcos Deuteros will combine with my Citadel of Darkest Light- Orichalcos, to form a truly fitting arena for the ultimate battle of Order versus Chaos!"

Suddenly, blocks of sandstone erupted from the ground. Kyle looked wildly around as the entire throne-room began to shake. "What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted angrily.

Dartz's eyes flared, and he held up his hands. The entire room was eclipsed in a blaze of blinding light, and then there was darkness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kyle had landed on his face. He had bruises all over his body, and he pulled himself to his feet, frustrated. That was when he got a good look at their location.

It was a wasteland, one unlike any he had ever seen before. The entire area looked like a war had been fought there. There were a few patches of grass here and there, and the soil had lost nearly all its color. There was a strange mist around them, and the sky had a tint of red to it. In the distance, he saw a massive number of ruined towers and castles. Corpses were ridden all over the place.

His eyes widened in disgust. The realism of it all was getting to him.

Kaiba was there too. He stared at it in disgust, and then his eyes narrowed in realization. "This… This is Atlantis!"

"Excellent guess, Kaiba," echoed a cold voice through the mist, and Kyle could make out Dartz walking towards them. There monsters had appeared as well.

"This field magic card is known as City of Nightmares- Atlantis." He let another dark laugh roll over the area. "This is where the Battle of Atlantis was fought ten thousand years ago. Ironheart, my fool of a father, summoned up an army of Duel Monsters. In the battle against my Orichalcos Soldiers, most of this once great city was destroyed. But it matters not, for soon, the world will be my kingdom, as compared to one country."

He paused, and continued. "Anyway, it was my turn, unless I'm much mistaken. With the coming of this new field magic card comes a new deck strategy… I summon Soul Knight of Atlantis (1900 500 2400/1800)!" The mist around them shook, and small wisps began to coalesce together to form a medium sized form. It was about six feet tall, and wore silver armor. He was mounted on a horse dressed in similar attire.

"The first effect of City of Nightmares activates. I must and discard my entire hand. I gain two thousand life-points for every card in my hand, and on the field. I count seven, meaning I gain seven thousand life-points!"

(Kaiba: 2550, Kyle: 4000, Dartz: 22100)

Both duelists growled as their enemy was empowered further. "Next I sacrifice Soul Knight to draw two cards. Of course, City of Nightmares retains the effect of its previous version." He glanced at his new cards.

"I play Desolate Restoration, allowing me to shuffle any ten cards in my graveyard back into my deck, and I can also draw three cards." He selected ten cards out of the mass in his graveyard, and slid them into his deck, before smoothly picking up the next three.

"I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Suddenly, a wraith shot out of his graveyard slot, and slammed into Kaiba. He grunted, and watched in shock as his VWXYZ- Dragon Catapult Cannon exploded.

"When Soul Knight is sent to the graveyard, I can destroy one level eight or lower monster on the field," snickered Dartz nastily.

Kaiba grunted in anger, but drew his card nonetheless.

Kaiba drew angrily. "Fine! I equip my Blue Eyes with Big Bang Shot, further boosting his attack points by a further 400, and giving it the ability to do piercing damage!" The dragon (3700/2800) gave a grunt, and began to glow.

"Now, attack with Mecha Lightning Burst!" The dragon opened its maw, and let lose a massive burst of white energy at the facedown monster. It shattered the brown-backed image, and the dragon's attack points briefly shot up to thirty-eight hundred.

"You set a monster with two hundred attack points?" scoffed Kyle.

"Indeed. It was my Brain Jacker (200/900). When destroyed, it changes to an equip card, and allows me to take control of one of your monsters. Obviously, my choice is the Blue Eyes!" A strange monster with one eye and a pair of wings latched onto the Blue Eyes, and was slowly absorbed by the dragon. It gave a groan, and moved to Dartz's field.

"Now, my City of Nightmares activates!" The dragon gave a growl (3700 500 4200/2500), and Kaiba glared at Dartz.

"You took my dragon again?!" rasped Kaiba. He clenched his fist in anger.

"Yes, I did, so please stop stating the obvious." The insult riled Kaiba up even more, while Kyle kept silent. He knew he had to prepare for this development, and instantly began looking over the combos in his hand.

Kaiba fumed. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

It was back to Kyle. He held up another card. "I summon Alpha- Archmage of Destiny (1900/1200) in attack mode." A blue robed magician carrying a large staff appeared. It wore a heavy helmet, and its skin had a strange tinge of red to it. It twirled the staff over its head, and clenched its other fist upon seeing Dartz.

"I now set one card facedown and end my turn."

Kaiba gave him an incredulous look. "Attack mode?"

"Don't worry, Kaiba." Dartz drew slowly, and smirked at Kyle. "You're awfully confident for someone who has so little to back up his claims. Now, Blue Eyes, destroy him!" The massive white dragon roared, and let lose a barrage of black energy at Alpha (5150/2800)

Kevin gave a dry laugh. "My Archmage lets me sacrifice him to activate a trap card from my hand. I have the perfect choice: Shadow Spell!" Dartz's eyes bulged as long, iron chains shot out of nowhere and wrapped around the dragon. The blast faded away, and even more chains began to join the mass that had already stopped the Blue Eyes in its tracks.

"This trap card will stop your monsters attack and drain him of seven hundred attack points." The monster glowed, and its attack points fell (3500/2800).

Kaiba was impressed. Dartz frowned at Kyle. "At thirty-five hundred, its still too strong for either of your weak monsters. You wasted that trap."

"Honestly? I don't think so. Hurry up and finish your move."

Dartz shrugged. "Fine. I set a card and end my turn."

Kaiba drew. He wished he had a magic or trap removal card, as it would allow him to destroy that blasted Brain Jacker, so that the Blue Eyes could take its rightful place back by his side. Unfortunately, he had nothing of the sort at this point, which meant he would have to play defensive.

"I summon my Emerald Paladin (1300/1500) in attack mode!" A man dressed in blue armor appeared. He held a long spear made of emerald, and wielded a formidably large shield. "He lets me summon Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400) from my deck."

His next monster came into play, revealing a powerful looking green skinned dragon. It issued forth a harsh roar at the Blue Eyes on Dartz's field. "I then set a card and end my turn."

Kyle drew slowly. "I activate Alpha's effect, sacrificing him to draw a card from my deck." He smirked at the new card.

"I equip the Dark Magician with Parasite Magic! This is the opposite of Mage Power, and gives him five hundred bonus attack points for every magic or trap card on your field instead of mine." The purple-robed mage closed his eyes, and very slowly, he began to glow. Dartz watched, aghast, as bolts of energy hit him from the Atlantian's own Duel Disk.

"Brain Jacker acts as an equip card, not to mention your facedown card and that field magic card. Now, see how it feels! Dark Magician (4000/3600), DARK MAGIC ATTACK!"

Launching himself into the air, the purple mage took aim with his staff. He fired a single blast of green magic energy straight at the white dragon, intending on finishing him off. The Blue Eyes let lose a blast in retaliation, but the magician's attack ripped through it and tore the dragon apart.

(Kaiba: 2550, Kyle: 4000, Dartz: 21600)

"All those life-points and you can't do a damn thing against me," sneered Kyle. "I guess that's all for now."

Dartz's eyes blazed. "Can't do a thing? I'll show you my full might… DRAW!"

He ripped the next card off his deck with such force that it sent a wind flying through the ruined landscape. Kyle felt it brush across his face, and he clenched his fist in anticipation.

Dartz's expression changed to an impish grin. "How excellent… This is exactly what I needed! Whatever strategies you possess are useless against me, and I intend to show you that with this monster… Warlord of Atlantis (2000 500 2500/1600)!"

There was an eerie hissing coming from the mist, and the wisps began to take shape. Soon, they formed a huge, hulking figure. It was roughly ten feet tall, and wore jet black armor. Its face was covered by a crude helmet. However, it held a long scimitar in one hand, which looked slightly like the one that was wielded by a Vorse Raider. It looked up and let lose a howl of anger.

"My monster's level is originally a level six, but his level is reduced by two when I have a field magic card with 'Atlantis' in its name in play. He's a monster rather special to me." Suddenly, the monster raised its head, to reveal an old, bearded face. However, eyes that were normally filled with benevolence now showed arrogance and hatred.

Kyle was oblivious, but Kaiba gasped. "I've seen that man…. In the vision you showed us when Yugi and I dueled you! He's…."

"Ironheart, my father," finished Dartz maliciously. "At least, what we would have been if he wasn't overtaken by visions of nobility, and if he hadn't gone against the righteousness of Order." His voice took on a bitter and cold edge as he continued.

"When I realized that the world was evil upon my discovery of the Orichalcos, I offered my father an opportunity to join me, so that we could bring Paradise to this wretched planet together! But he refused, and the Light showed me that the evil that had tainted the world had even turned my father and daughter against me."

He clenched his fist, and then relaxed it. "This is my father who has been enlightened by the holiness of the Orichalcos, without the evil taint of this planet's corruption."

Kyle glared at him. "I don't know your father's story, but if he's possessed by the Orichalcos, then all I can say is that you've gone and corrupted him with your magic!" Dartz glared at him, cold fury present in his eyes. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW NOTHING, CHILD! I HAVE SPENT TEN THOUSAND YEARS, TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF MISERY AND TOIL TO GET WHERE I HAVE REACHED! I WILL NOT LET SOME FOOLISH CHILD LIKE YOU TAKE EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

Kyle did not reply to Dartz's outburst. Kaiba was about to say something, but Kyle gave a hollow chuckle.

"You say that I've know nothing?" He looked up, and his cold eyes were mocking Dartz.

"I know more about real life than you could ever know. And I mean _real _life. Fighting for survival." Dartz's angry expression was replaced by surprise.

"What? You're only sixteen or seventeen," he scoffed.

Even Kaiba was looking at him curiously. Suddenly, Kyle burst into his story.

"I told everyone that my mother left my dad. That wasn't true, she died in a car accident. He was badly injured, and my sister was forced to work in a restraunt to support the family from a young age. My dad's condition worsened, and soon, we didn't have enough to pay the rent, and we got evicted. We stayed at my aunt's house, and my dad soon died from grief and his injuries. My aunt's boyfriend was drunk most of the time, and we used to leave the house when that happened. Tea hung out with her friends, but I wanted to hang around by myself. I felt awkward around older kids."

Kaiba was shocked to hear Kyle's story. He had never thought that any member of the geek squad could be so similar to him.

Kyle's hair was hiding his face as he continued. "It was a bad part of town. I got beaten up more than once, but I roughened up soon. Hell, I even broke my attacker's arm once. The guy pretended to play the victim, and I spent some time in a juvenile detention center. By the time I left, no school wanted to accept me. Tea finally turned eighteen and got control of all the inheritance, and rented a small house."

His fist was clenched as he continued. "The night we were leaving, my aunt's boyfriend was a bit more drunk than usual. was ranting about wanting the money to fund his drinking habit, but he refused. He got angry, and pulled a knife. He went for Tea."

Kyle's voice cracked. "It was a reflex action. Tea had been taking care of me ever since our parents died. I attacked him. We fought. I broke his neck."

Kaiba's eyes widened. This boy had it worse than him. Gozaburo Kaiba had supposedly committed suicide when Seto had beat him in a chess game, but the young CEO did not have his death directly weighing down on his own conscious. This kid had killed a man. He had struck the blow.

Kyle looked up, his eyes blazing. "I did what I had to protect the only person I loved. My aunt wasn't home, and we left. It was the only thing we could do. We settled in that tiny apartment, and Tea's desperately been trying to get me into a school ever since. You say I don't know about what the world is like. I know what the worst of humanity is like. But that doesn't warrant punishing this entire planet."

Dartz raised an eyebrow, his voice back to its usual silky tone. "It seems you are a bigger idiot that I thought you to be. Your life has been ruined by this race, and yet you go on defending them? Why? I crave an answer. Why do you continue to stop me from imposing order, especially after having suffered so much at the hands of humanity. You are a fool, Kyle Gardner, and for that you will pay."

Kyle's aqua eyes locked with Dartz's golden and green ones. "Then let's see if your statement has any truth to it."

Dartz snarled at him. "I'll show you my strength! When my Warlord is summoned, I can remove a monster from play in my hand from play in order to increase his attack points by a hundred for every one of its level stars!" The warlord glowed, and its attack points shot up to three thousand, showing that Dartz had discarded a level five monster.

"Also, I can destroy one magic or trap card on your field… And I choose your equip card!" Kyle frowned as his Dark Magician's attack power fell to its regular twenty-five hundred.

"Now, my Warlord, attack Kaiba's Emerald Paladin with Strike of Atlantis!" The warrior howled, and shot off across the field towards the green knight. With a single stroke of his scimitar, the monster was destroyed.

Kaiba gave a gasp of pain. "When Emerald Paladin is destroyed, I gain the amount of life-points I would have lost, as long as Luster Dragon #2 is on the field."

(Kaiba: 4250, Kyle: 4000, Dartz: 21600)

Suddenly, the Warlord glowed, and its attack points slowly increased to an impressive thirty-four hundred. "My monster gains attack points equal to the level of the destroyed monster multiplied by one hundred. Since your paladin was a level four, it gained four hundred attack points."

Kaiba grimaced. "That thing reminds me of Bakura's Diabound Carnal."

"Excellent observation. I heard about Diabound, and decided to embody its power in a card that would be used as a weapon in the Grand Crusade for Order, as compared to that foolish thief's Chaos. In fact, my Warlord has even more effects, ones that will ruin you!"

"Are you done?" snarled Kaiba.

Dartz glared at him, and ended his turn.

Kaiba drew slowly. "I summon my Blade Knight (1600/1200) in attack mode!" Another knight in silver armor appeared. It held a long sword, and its shield was rather small. It glared at Dartz through the visor in its helmet.

"Pathetic!" scoffed Dartz. "What can sixteen hundred attack points do against me?"

"Don't be so quick to judge my power, Dartz," sneered Kaiba. He held up another card. "Gift of the Martyr allows me to sacrifice one monster to another, in order to boost his attack points by the sacrificed monster. I sacrifice Blade Knight to my dragon in order to put it above your Warlord!"

The green dragon (4000/1400) glowed as the knight disappeared. "Attack his monster with Emerald Burst!"

Dartz gave a short laugh as the drake let lose a blast of green energy at the Warlord of Atlantis. "A true general is one who can command his troops well! I activate his effect, removing an Atlantis monster in my graveyard from play in order to decrease the attack points of the attacking monster by the base strength of the removed monster. I choose my Brute Soldier of Atlantis! Possess his dragon!"

Becoming a wisp of spirit, the huge armored soldier entered into Kaiba's monster, who suddenly seemed very depressed and shadowed in color as its attack points dropped. (Luster Dragon #2: 2400/1400).

Kaiba gasped, "No!", as the warlord snapped its scimitar around and deflected the green energy back at his dragon, who gave a groan, and shattered.

"I will defeat your Warlord!" snarled Kaiba, as the monster's attack points further increased to a massive four thousand.

"Really? I'm afraid that you're in a bit of a mess when it comes to that, because I haven't even begun to use the effects of my field magic card yet."

Kaiba frowned at that, for he realized that this was indeed a problem. This new one was supposed to be even more broken than the Citadel of Darkest Light- Orichalcos, and Dartz had barely used one or two effects.

"Fine. I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Kyle drew, and looked around him. "It's not fair that you're the only one who can play these weirdly powerful field magic cards. That's why I'm going to play Field of Ultimate Battle, which allows all of us to activate one field magic card from our deck, excepting for those who already have one on the field. Various field magic cards may co-exist together." Kaiba indicated he did not wish to do anything.

He quickly searched through his deck and found the appropriate card. "Here comes my Citadel of the Magicians!" A towering castle began to push out of the wasteland. It was blazing with white light, and Kaiba could make out various spellcasters hopping about here and there. It seemed to be made of marble, and the very presence of the new palace was countering the dreariness of the horrible wasteland.

Dartz did not seem impressed. "I am not impressed."

"You have a painful habit of stating the obvious, you know that?" drawled Kyle. "And that is making me very, very irritable. Let's see if you're not impressed after I show you how powerful it is. I summon my Dark Magic Apprentice (1000/1000) in attack mode!"

A magician dressed in purple robes similar to the Dark Magician himself appeared. However, he looked younger and inexperienced. He didn't have a staff, and he gave Kyle a nervous smile. Suddenly, he glowed with powerful energy, and his attack points shot up to fifteen hundred.

"My field magic card grants all spellcasters five hundred extra attack points," said Kyle with a grin.

"When he's summoned, I can sacrifice him to revive a monster with 'Dark Magician' in its name, from my graveyard. Frankly, no monster could be more perfect for this situation than the Dark Magician (2500 500 3000/2100)!"

The Dark Magic Apprentice closed his eyes, and black energy pulsed all over his body. He began to morph, and as he grew taller, he gained a staff and began to look more experienced and battle-hardened. When he looked up, his eyes were fierce, and he was now the Dark Magician himself.

Suddenly, he picked another card off his deck. "Citadel of the Magicians allows me to draw a card whenever a spellcaster is special summoned." Dartz frowned. This field magic card was working extremely well with the boy's strategy.

"Next comes Dedication Through Light and Darkness, sacrificing the Dark Magician to summon from my deck my personal favorite, Dark Magician of Chaos (2800 500 3300/2600)!"

The Dark Magician disappeared, and lightning without warning struck the field. From the strike, a figure slowly rose up from a kneeling position. The figure had tight fitting black leather armor, a strange mage's hat, a black staff in his hands. The only part of the figure that showed skin was his face, which appeared to have some kind of black markings on it. His skin was blue, and he had strange eyes with yellow corneas and red irises.

Dartz growled. "A Chaos monster…"

Kyle smirked and drew another card. "My Dark Magician of Chaos lets me add a magic card from my graveyard to my hand when he's summoned. I choose Thousand Knives." He found the card in his discard pile, and added it to his hand.

"Next I play Premature Burial, paying 800 life-points to revive my the Dark Magician (2500 500 3000/2100)!" Once again, the legendary mage appeared next to its chaos counterpart. Kyle drew again.

Dartz gasped. "You intend to use your Thousand Knives again!"

"You catch on, quickly, you little twit," smirked Kyle. "Go… Thousand Knives!" Once again, a massive array of knives appeared behind the purple-robed mage. The Dark Magician, who had been pointing his staff skywards, dropped it, and sent the knives towards the hulking warlord.

Dartz gave a brief smirk. "Fool. I play Immortal Shadow from my hand! This grants a dark monster on my field three counters. Every time he's about to be destroyed or removed from play, I can destroy a counter in his place. So, my Warlord will be protected!"

The knives slammed into the warlord, and he howled in pain. Seething, he began to rip each and every one out of his body. Kyle watched in disgust as black blood leaked out his numerous wounds. Slowly, the injuries healed by themselves, leaving a very angry, very powerful monster.

Kyle swore, now that there was no Tea around to prevent him from doing so. "Ya' know, you really cheese me off. I set a monster in defense mode, and add a facedown card before I end my turn." A brown-backed card appeared, dwarfed by the two mighty magicians.

(Kaiba: 4250, Kyle: 3200, Dartz: 21600)

It was back to Dartz. He drew, and gave Kevin a pitying look. "First, I set a monster in defense mode." A brown-backed card appeared next to the warlord.

"Now, I can reveal to you one of the true powers of my City of Nightmares! Once per turn, it lets me remove a monster in my graveyard from play to force one monster on your field to attack another! So, the Dark Magician of Chaos now attacks the Dark Magician!"

Kyle's eyes widened as the mighty Chaos Mage let lose a sphere of black energy at the weaker mage, who grimaced as he attempted to defend himself. However, the attack overwhelmed him, and the Dark Magician was blown to a pile of cinders. "Unfortunately, no damage will be done by using this effect." Kyle didn't say anything, for he knew what was coming.

"Now, my Warlord will attack your pathetic Dark Magician of Chaos with Vengeance Burst!" The warlord roared, and slammed his scimitar into the Dark Magician of Chaos. The Chaos Mage was sliced in half, leaving Kyle all but defenseless, except for one facedown monster. (Warlord of Atlantis: 4800/1200

0

(Kaiba: 4250, Kyle: 2500, Dartz: 21600)

"With nothing else to do, I will set a card and end my turn."

Kaiba drew, and smirked at his next card. "I flip my Horus, the Black Flame Dragon LV4 (1600/1000)!" A silver metallic looking bird like dragon materialized onto the field with its wings folded up.

"Then I sacrifice him to summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600) from my hand!" The small silver dragon was suddenly hidden by black flames. From the flames, large silver wings came out, along with a long silver tail, a pair of powerful talon legs, and finally the main body of the silver metal dragon was seen. It still looked like a large bird, but a much more powerful bird.

"Now, attack his facedown monster with Black Flame Burst Level Six!" Roaring, the dragon beat its massive wings. Lifting off of the ground, the dragon opened its jaws, revealing black flames in its mouth. Breathing out, the flames came spewing out in a stream straight for the facedown card. The flames easily ripped through the facedown monster, and destroyed it.

Dartz scoffed. "What was the point of summoning such a weak monster, when my monster is more than twice as strong as it?"

"Attack points aren't everything Dartz," said Kaiba in a murderous tone.

"Now, for my Main Phase 2, I'll set a card facedown. I end my turn."

A large sphere of black flames surrounded the silver dragon in a flash. From the flames came a larger set of silver metal wings, a longer tail, stronger talon legs, powerful silver arms, and at long last, a large silver head. With a massive roar, the flames dispersed.

"If my dragon has destroyed a monster while in level six form, I can upgrade it to level eight during my end phase. This is Horus, the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800). He has a deadly effect, that I'm quite sure you won't like when you find out what it is."

Kyle gave the deadly dragon a look that indicated that he was impressed as he slowly slid the top card off his deck.

"Well, I sacrifice my facedown White Magician Pikeru (1200/0) to summon my Cybernetic Magician (2400 500 2900/1000) from my hand!" A small flash appeared on the field as the young female mage vanished, and a new mage clad in white appeared. He had a small pointed hat, a white and silver trench coat/robes, blue pants, white boots that went up to his knees, and a small l-shaped rod that had a small bit past the corner of the L size. His hair was blonde, and his skin tone was light green.

"He lets me discard a card from my hand to change the attack points of one monster on the field to two thousand. So I discard Repayment of Losses in order to draw one card, as well as weaken your Warlord!"

Instantly pointing at the mighty heavily armored warrior, the white mage released a blast of blue energy. The warrior cried out in pain and fell to one knee instantly, showing his instant weakening (2000/1200).

He smirked at his next card. "How perfect! I never thought I'd draw this card so soon. I remove from play White Magician Pikeru and Dark Magic Apprentice to summon the first of the Chaos monsters that Yugi gave me… Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

Emerging onto the field, a warrior in black ebony shiny armor with a mixture of gold trim, a black helmet, with a bronze colored sword in his right hand and a powerful black and gold shield in his left let out a small battle cry.

"Impressive," chuckled Dartz. "But it has no power when compared to my Warlord."

Kyle smirked at him. "Your monster has only two counters left. It will be destroyed now. First, Cybernetic Magician…. Attack with Cyber Energy Burst!"

Pointing his staff at the weakened warrior, the white robed mage released a blue sphere of magical energy straight for the warrior. The blast tore into the once powerful warrior, making him cry out loud in great pain from the blast. However, even though Dartz lost life-points, the monster still survived.

"Now, my Black Luster Soldier… Attack with Double Chaos Edge!"

Rushing forward with a mighty leap, the ebony armored warrior quickly crossed the field, blade raised. On his final approach, he took another leap into the air and began his descent with his sword pulled in for a slash. Finally falling to the ground, he slashed the Warlord of Atlantis, who gave a groan as it stopped glowing, dropping Dartz's life-points even further.

The soldier wheeled around and slashed its opponent again. This one was successful, and the Warlord was cleaved cleanly in half. Dartz clenched his fist as the two halves hung suspended in mid-air for a moment, before they vanished.

"I don't need my father to defeat you!" he spat.

Kyle chuckled dryly. "We'll just have to see about that, won't we? I end my turn."

(Kaiba: 4250, Kyle: 3200, Dartz: 18700)

It was once again Dartz's turn. He gave Kyle a cold smile. "I activate another effect of my City of Nightmares. I can discard a card from my hand to special summon a level four or lower monster from any of our graveyards."

He found the card in his own graveyard, and played it. "Here's a card I discarded earlier… Element Golem of Atlantis (1600 500 2100/1500)!" Kaiba raised an eyebrow at the new monster appeared on the field. It was a strange man made completely of rock, and was about seven feet tall. Tiny red eyes peered out of its head.

"Pathetic," sneered Kaiba.

"Really, Kaiba? He lets me summon another copy of himself from my deck." Another brown golem appeared on the field.

"Perfect… Now I sacrifice both of them to summon my Eternity Sage of Atlantis (2300 500 2800/2900)! Upon being tribute summoned, this monster lets me draw cards from my deck until I hold six." He looked over his new hand, and continued, "Then I sacrifice him to my field cards effect to draw two cards."

Dartz grinned at Kyle. "Fool. I play Final Destiny, discarding five cards from my hand to destroy all cards on the field!"

Both of his opponents gasped as a tempest began to swell in the middle of the field. It was a bit small at first, but then came an impossibly large explosion, which ripped through all monsters on the field, as well as all magic and trap cards.

Dartz gave a triumphant smirk, and held up another card. "Perfect. I chain the magic card Dimension Distortion. When I've sent four or more cards to the graveyard to another card effect, I get to shuffle my entire graveyard back into my deck."

Kaiba's eyes widened as Dartz snatched up the pile of cards in his graveyard and slid it into his deck. His hands moved as fast as lightning as he began to shuffle. "Now, I'm not going to deck out. Also, the effect of Dimension Distortion allows all of us to draw cards until we hold six."

The three duelists did so, and Dartz smirked and continued. "Next I special summon Tempest Knight of Atlantis (1700 500 2200/1500)!" A soldier in red armor appeared on the field. It held a long scythe, and its face was covered by a strange helmet. "I did this by using its effect: I must sacrifice my battle-phase for this turn."

"Damn it…" growled Kaiba.

"I set a card and end my turn," finished Dartz.

It was essentially a new duel. "I summon Vorse Striker (1700/1000) in attack mode!" The monster had two swords that had been made by taking two long metal poles and pounding them until they had edges, and as such lacked hilts or guards. It was just as ogre-like as the Vorse Raider.

"Pathetic," sneered Dartz. Kaiba shot him a glare. "Vorse Striker allows me to sacrifice my battle-phase to blow away one of your monsters."

Twisting its weapon in its hand, the monster charged at Dartz's monster, preparing to slash it in half vertically. "I activate my facedown Veteran Soldier! Any level five or higher monster on my field becomes immune to all kinds of destruction."

"I activate my quick-play Hand to Hand Combat, which negates one magic or trap card on the field that allows you to defend against one effect."

Dartz pursed his lips as the Tempest Knight was slashed in half.

"Meh, I doesn't make much of a difference, not when I have nearly twenty thousand life-points. I'd also like to mention that when my Tempest Knight of Atlantis is destroyed in battle, I get to special summon one monster from my graveyard in facedown defense mode during your end phase."

Kaiba knew that since there wasn't any other monster in his graveyard, he would have to choose the Tempest Knight itself. But it made no difference, because all Kyle would need was a monster with over one thousand attack points to destroy it.

"I end my turn," growled Kaiba, and a

It was Kyle's turn next. He drew slowly, and smirked at Dartz. "I play Polymerization, to fuse my Hell Magic Soldier (1700/1500) and Heaven Magic Defender (1500/1700) to summon forth Chaos Magic Warrior (2900 500 3400/2300)!" This new magician was dressed in red and blue armor, and had a sword belted onto its waist. It carried no staff, but its hands glowed with power.

Kyle drew another card due to the fact that his monster had been special summoned. "Thirty-four hundred? Impressive, least to say," mused Dartz.

"Yes, it is. I activate its special ability, which allows me to destroy one monster and one magic or trap card on the field. Your entire field is blown away, leaving you wide open!"

The fused mage raised its hands, and let lose a silver stream of energy, which shattered not only the facedown monster, but Dartz's set trap card as well. "Sorry, but I can chain the Wabuko you just destroyed so that I take no damage!" sneered Dartz.

Kyle growled, but then ended his turn with a facedown.

Dartz chuckled. "I activate my magic card, Taming the Dragon, which allows me to fuse any dragon in my hand with a monster in my deck. The dragon I hold is the Cursed Dragon of Atlantis (2000/1600)!" A yellow dragon appeared. It looked strange, with a long horn stretching out from its mouth, and a number of spikes on its back.

Kaiba's eyes widened. "That's the… Curse of Dragon!"

"It's other half, yes. You see, there were a number of Shadow Creatures that battled me in the Battle of Atlantis. They were tainted by the evil magic of the Shadows, but when they were defeated, they were able to see the true divinity of the Orichalcos, and realized that they were fighting for the wrong side. This is the unlocked power of the Curse of Dragon. It has an effect, but it is not applicable at this point. Anyway, I fuse my Cursed Dragon of Atlantis with the Dark Knight-Gaia, Protector of Atlantis (2300/2100) in my deck, to summon Nova Champion Dragon-Gaia of Atlantis (2600 500 3100/2300)!"

The new monster looked quite a bit like the original fusion, Gaia the Dragon Champion, except that the Cursed Dragon was blood red instead of yellow. Its wings were quite a bit larger, and it had large fangs. Gaia was dressed in black armor, and its skin was a strange, demonic blue. It held a rather long pair of lances.

"Pathetic. Its nowhere near as strong as my fusion."

"Really? Because I'd like you to be introduced to my monster's effect. When it duels a monster with higher attack points than it, it gains a thousand attack points. Attack with Black Whirlwind Lance!" (4100/2300)

The dragon mounted knight flew high into the air, and then threw a lance straight down at the mage. At the same time the Cursed Dragon opened its mouth and shot a stream of flame down at the monster. The mage was blown away.

(Kaiba: 4250, Kyle: 2500, Dartz: 19200)

"I end my turn, but not before setting a facedown card," chuckled Dartz.

Kaiba drew angrily. "I sacrifice Vorse Striker for my Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700)!" Vanishing quickly, the creature was replaced instantly with a large dull grey armored dragon with orange skin. It had several large spikes sticking from it's body, a pair of small drills sticking form it's knees and elbows, powerful clawed fists, short stubby wings, and finally a strong mace shaped ball on it's tail.

Dartz raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I'm aware of its effect. You may discard a monster to destroy all monsters on my field that are weaker than it. But frankly, do you have a monster with more than thirty-one hundred attack points? Even your Blue Eyes isn't that strong."

Kaiba shook his head. "You are an idiot. You see, I play Level Up, to special summon Armed Dragon LV7 (2800/1000)!"

Glowing brightly, the orange and grey dragon vanished, causing a plume of smoke to rise up. From the smoke came a loud roar, followed by a bright glow. Soon enough, powerful clawed hands came out of the smoke, followed by metallic wings, a long tail with a cylindrical like mace on the tip, strong legs with drills sticking from it's legs, and finally followed by a strong head covered in semi-shiny metal armor that protected orange skin. Letting out a massive roar once more, the dragon glared across the field at soldier mounted on a dragon.

"Finally, I sacrifice this dragon in order to summon the top dragon, my Armed Dragon LV10 (3000/2000)!"

Vanishing quick as it had appeared, the powerful dragon was removed, causing a bright red glow to form. From the glow came a new dragon, one with shiny metal armor that covered a majority of its body, and reddish-orange skin. On its back were massive metal wings. Its head was covered completely in the armor, as was most of its chest and arms. The underside of its arms were not covered, and revealed reddish-orange skin, as did its legs. The dragon, unlike the previous forms, stood fully on two legs up straight and tall. Sending out a louder roar the previous dragon, the dragon gave an enraged glare at Dartz.

"Not bad," chuckled Dartz.

"I didn't really except you to summon something like this. Now why don't you activate its effect?"

"With pleasure! I discard Repayment of Losses to draw one card, and then my Armed Dragon LV10's ability activates, blowing away every single one of your monsters!" Dartz wasn't impressed as the dragon opened its jaws, revealing blazing red flames. With little effort, it shot forth a mighty beam of red power, striking the fusion, making it howl in pain till it finally shattered into pieces.

"Now, my dragon, attack him directly with Energy Claw Level Ten!"

Stepping forward, the dragon pulled back its right arm and formed a sphere of red energy within it. Closing it's fist around the sphere, the dragon moved forward another step and thrust all it's power into the claw. With ease, the dragon pushed its fist forward into Dartz's gut.

Dartz shook his head as if denying a small child a cookie. "I activate my facedown trap card, Call of Heaven!" Suddenly, an angel glowing so brightly that its features couldn't be made out, appeared on the field and blocked the attack just before it could hit the Atlantian.

"What the hell?" gasped Kaiba. "What happened?"

"Well, Call to Heaven allowed me to negate your attack, as well as add an Atlantis monster from my deck to my hand."

Kaiba growled as Dartz added another card to his hand.

"Very well… I end my turn, but know that I will win!"

Kyle drew slowly. "I summon Magician's Valkyrie (1600/1800) in attack mode."

A young female mage with long chestnut colored hair that reached her mid-back that wore a mostly light blue with some light purple like dress and an odd looking light blue mage's hat appeared onto the field. She held a scepter in her right hand that looked like a ram's horn on the end of a stick that had three green jewels on each side. The scepter itself was a light grey.

"Next, I play this, my Quick Summon spell card. With this, I can Normal Summon another monster, so I pick another Magician's Valkyrie (1600 500 2100/1800) in attack."

Appearing beside of the first female mage was a mirror image of the mage in an offensive stance. Both nodded to one another and smiled, seemingly happy to see one another.

"Since this is treated as a special summon, I draw a card." Dartz didn't look bothered as Kyle picked another card off the top of his deck.

"Now, my Valkyrie's… Double Direct Attack!"

Twirling her staff, one of the young female mages finally pointed it at the Prince of Atlantis. A green sphere of energy formed quickly at the end of her staff. She quickly released the blast, sending it slamming into Dartz, who didn't seem to react. The other one followed suit, dropping his life-points further.

(Kaiba: 4250, Kyle: 2500, Dartz: 14500)

"I end my turn," said Kyle confidently. He was happy with the damage he had done.

It was back to Dartz, whose smile sent a shiver down Kyle's spine as he drew. "I activate my fusion's ability, removing him from play in order to special summon one of his fusion materials in defense mode. I choose the Cursed Dragon of Atlantis (2000 500 2500/1600)!"

The devilish yellow dragon appeared on the field, with its wings folded around itself.

"Useless," smirked Kyle. "Since it was special summoned during your Main Phase, you can't switch its mode." Dartz gave Kaiba a morbid grin.

"That was not my plan. My plan was to activate this card… Infinite Dismissal!" The Cursed Dragon began to glow. Kaiba looked around in shock as tendrils of energy began to sprout out from the ground around him.

"What the-…" he began.

"It is the effect of Infinite Dismissal! It can only be used in a multi-player duel. I must sacrifice one level five or higher monster, and I must also pay life-points equal to the number of cards in my hand multiplied by one thousand. The duelist I choose is locked out of the duel for a number of his turns equal to the level of the sacrificed monster."

The tendrils of energy soon formed a cage, and stopped glowing to form thick rods of metal around Kaiba and his entire field. The Armed Dragon LV10 roared, but it couldn't do anything.

"That player cannot be attacked, and his cards cannot be the target of any effect. Essentially, this is now a one on one duel for the next five of Kaiba's turns. No one to protect you now, Gardner. Let's see how _tough_ you are when you face me all by yourself," he sneered.

"I don't need help to wipe the floor with you," countered Kyle.

"You know, your attitude is really irritating me," snapped Dartz. "Just shut up and lose already!"

"_That's right…_" thought Kyle in a contended frame of mind. "_Make him angry… The angrier he gets, the more mistakes he makes, and I'll be waiting to capitalize on his errors._"

(Kaiba: Locked Out, Kyle: 2500, Dartz: 12500)

"Now, I summon Dark Judge of Atlantis (2000 500 2500/2000)!" A demon in judge's robes appeared. It held a massive hammer, that seemed to be pulsing with arcane energy. It opened its eyes to reveal something scary, something that Kyle didn't want to see.

"I know… It's a bit broken, two thousand attack and defense points, and a level four. Don't worry, it loses five hundred points for every card in my hand. Although it's strange… I only have one, which means my judge is still weaker than your mages." (2000/1500)

"Next I sacrifice him to draw two cards." He chuckled at his new cards. "I play Revival Sphere, which lets me special summon a level four Atlantis monster from my graveyard. I choose the might of my Tempest Knight of Atlantis (1700 500 2200/1500)!"

Kyle's eyes shot open in surprise as the scythe-wielding monster appeared on the field. "Yes, I know of the effect of your mages. When you have two on the field, they are virtually invincible. Now, Revival Sphere's second effect allows me to destroy one monster on the field… So say goodbye to one of your pathetic Valkyrie's!"

Kyle snarled in anger as the scythe-wielding monster slashed one of the female mages in half. She let out a cry of pain as the razor sharp weapon severed her body in two, before both parts exploded.

"Then I'll have the Tempest Knight obliterate your second monster!" The knight wheeled around, and decapitated the second mage as well, leaving Kyle defenseless.

(Kaiba: Locked Out, Kyle: 2400, Dartz: 12500)

Kyle drew, since it was Kaiba's turn next. He frowned, knowing that he would have a hard time facing Dartz alone. Kaiba was good, and had faced Dartz before, making him a great asset in this long duel against the Atlantian.

He growled at the fact that he had nothing strong enough to overcome the might of Dartz's Tempest Knight. If his Valkyrie defense hadn't been battered down, he wouldn't have had to worry about anything like that.

"I set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

Dartz drew, a malicious look on his face. "I summon Centurion of Atlantis (1500 500 2000/1000)!" A tall man dressed in multicolored armor appeared. He carried a very long sword, and nodded at the Tempest Knight.

"When he's summoned, I can draw one card from the top of my deck, and you can draw one from the bottom of your deck." Kyle was surprised by the effect, and pulled out his deck before adding the bottom card to his hand. He grimaced however, knowing that whatever was to come was going to smart…

"Centurion, destroy his monster with Balance Charge!" The mighty knight slashed the facedown monster in half. Kyle grunted in anger, as it was revealed to be an Apprentice Magician (400/800).

"I can now summon a level two or lower spellcaster in facedown defense mode," chuckled Kyle.

"I'm afraid not," said Dartz smoothly. "When my Centurion destroys a monster in battle, it's effect is negated. So, Mr. Gardner, I'm afraid your defenseless."

Kyle winced. "This is going to hurt…."

"Of course. Tempest Knight, attack his life-points directly!" The blood red soldier rushed forward, and slammed its scythe into Kyle's shoulder. He screamed in pain as the blade penetrated his skin, and with a howl of agony, he snapped his leg forward, kicking the monster away. But the damage was already done, and Kyle had been brought within a brink of losing.

(Kaiba: Locked Out, Kyle: 200, Dartz: 12500)

The teenager fell to his knees, gasping in pain.

"You fool!" roared Dartz. "Do you not see how hopeless it is to challenge the Prince of Atlantis? I am far more powerful than you could ever be… And soon, you will meet your maker!"

From behind the cage, Kaiba looked at the fallen boy in despair. "Get up!" he hissed. "Get up and fight this dumbass!"

Kyle stood up slowly, ignoring Dartz's mocking. There were no snappish retorts, no angry insults. He simply breathed heavily, and spoke in a quiet voice. "My turn?"

"Please, go right ahead," laughed Dartz.

Kyle drew slowly, his face the image of peace. "I summon Vortex Magician (1000/1000) in attack mode!" Dartz quirked an eyebrow as a small, purple magician appeared. He was dressed in armor, and carried a small wand. A strange wizard's hat was mounted lopsidedly on his head.

"Now, he lets me sacrifice him to special summon a level eight or lower dark spellcaster that is removed from play…. I choose the Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!" The purple spellcaster disappeared, and a strange vortex emerged on Kyle's field. The figure was dressed in tight fitting white leather armor, had blue skin, white hair, and had a strange mage's hat on his head leapt out of the portal.

Dartz shrugged. "You can deal me a maximum of eight hundred life-points of damage this turn. Do you think I can't destroy that pathetic mage?"

Kyle did not seem worried by his bravado. "I draw a card because he was special summoned, and also add a spell from my graveyard to my hand." Flicking his eyes over his new cards, a bit of Kyle's old cockiness seemed to appear, if only for a moment. "I play Negative Soul Aura… This destroys one monster on the field weaker than my strongest monster, and deals you its attack points as damage!"

Dartz shrugged as the Dark Magician of Chaos let lose a sphere of gray energy, vaporizing his Tempest Knight. He grimaced as his life-points fell, but it was surely nothing to worry about. The child couldn't do anything to him.

(Kaiba: LOCKED OUT, Kyle: 200, Dartz: 9300)

"Now, destroy his pathetic Centurion with Chaos Scepter Blast!"

Spinning his scepter with one hand, the mage finally slammed the tip of it into the ground using both hands, sending a sphere of pure darkness at Dartz's monster. The sphere struck him hard without hesitation, causing a powerful explosion to ensue. Not long after that, through the smoke, Kyle saw the gasping ruler.

(Kaiba: LOCKED OUT, Kyle: 200, Dartz: 8500)

­­­­Dartz glared at Kyle. "My life-points are still forty-two times yours! Do you except that pathetic mage to defeat me?"

Kyle didn't answer. Instead, he set a card and ended his turn.

Dartz drew, and laughed out loud. "I summon Herald of Atlantis (1000 500 1500/1500)!" A small monster dressed in flowing green robes appeared. It held a tightly wrapped scroll in one hand.

"Next I sacrifice him to the City of Nightmares to draw two cards." Dartz glanced over his hand of a total of five cards, and a smug grin spread across his face. "When my Herald is destroyed, I may add a monster with 'Atlantis' in its name to my hand."

Kyle looked at him curiously as the deadly duelist found the appropriate card in his deck.

"I have plenty of incredibly powerful monsters in my deck, but this one is rather more powerful than the others. To tell you the truth, I would say that its easily the second or third most powerful that I have… Activate ritual magic card, Virtues of Sinning!"

Kyle was unable to see into an influx of darkness that exploded over Dartz's field. "This card can only be played when City of Nightmares- Atlantis is on the field, and I have five or more Atlantis monsters in my graveyard…. I summon Divine Death Knight of Atlantis (4000/4000)!"

There was a rumbling, and the mist around them began to shake.

"Something powerful is coming…." thought Kyle.

"Foolish child, meet your excecutioner!"

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**That's chapter forty-one for you. Hope you guys liked it… Next one will take a while. Until then…. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1**


	42. Now and Forever

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: Now and Forever

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: Now and Forever

**Mysticlife: Thank you for the compliments… They are always very appreciated. If you think that this duel was good….. Smirks Read on.**

**Princess Yunariana: Hey… No problem. Real life always takes precedence over fanfiction…. Lol. Anyway, enjoy what is to come.**

**BEWK: Thanks, Ed. You'll probably love the end of the chapter more than the duel as a whole.**

**Mystralwind: Glad you liked it… Keep reviewing.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Thanks for the compliments. Your big reviews never cease to make me happy…. **

Agent Matt Thomas stared at the wreck that had once been First Wall Street. "How…." He couldn't understand it.

The entire street had been torn apart beyond recognition. An officer in the area had just given them a distress call before he screamed. The radio went dead after that. The NYPD had deployed a squad to area. When they had arrived, they had seen the damage and immediately warned the commissioner that they wouldn't be enough. The enemy seemed to be in possession of powerful, non-nuclear weapons. After all, the blueprints of Blue Boy were rumored to have been leaked a few weeks ago.

That squad hadn't been heard from again. Satellites showed that everyone within a two hundred foot radius was dead.

The cops had called in the National Guard. It was the only thing they could think of. Already, eight officers were dead.

A convoy of choppers was coming in, along with a battalion of jeeps loaded with troops. It had taken a few hours, but everyone within a twenty block radius had been evacuated. The size of the attack force was something to be reckoned with, not to mention the deadly artillery that they had been equipped with.

Matt was one of the FBI agents who had been sent in to handle the troops. He was second in command to Agent Roland Johnson. He glanced nervously at his superior. "Where the hell is the perpetrator? NYPD has set up a perimeter. No one, and I mean no one, could have left the area. He has to here."

"How do you know he didn't leave the bomb here?" replied Johnson.

"Certain corpses have been found that have been damaged in ways that are not possible by an explosion. I saw one that was ripped in half." Johnson winced.

"Who the hell could have done something like this? It must be a large group, especially if the Pentagon sent in such a large force. They're all jocks: kill first, ask questions later."

Before his deputy could answer, there was an explosion from inside one of the ruined buildings. It was powerful enough to throw them off their feet, and those who were closer to the wreckage were ripped apart.

Matt got to his feet, and ripped out his gun. "OPEN FIRE, MEN!"

The battalion let lose a barrage of bullets into the smoke. It was like a stream of death, and there was no way one could dodge it. After about a minute, they halted.

A large figure began to walk out of the smoke. It was about nine feet tall, and very muscular. It seemed to be dressed in a cloak that barely fit it. No one could make out any features, but its blood red eyes were glowing so brightly that even though it was about two a.m., they were perfectly visible.

Matt had seen that look in the eyes of many criminals. It was a look of pure, raw, unadulterated hatred. Whatever this thing could do, it was human, for it seemed to be able to feel hatred. And if it was human, Matt would kill it. His instincts as an agent took over, and he reloaded his gun as the figure shrieked, and swiped its arm through the air.

The fist didn't touch anyone. However, it let lose a strange, invisible wave of energy that seemed to blow away three tanks.

"What the hell? One swing did all that? The damn thing didn't even touch the tanks!"

The humanoid leapt into the hair, towards the copters that were hovering over the wreckage. The copter pilots panicked and a hail of bullets went flying into the man's path. From his distant view Matt couldn't tell if any of the bullets hit, but by the sheer volume of them he couldn't believe that none of them had. _'It's not even flinching!'_

The man struck the lead helicopter with the full force of his jump and ripped right through the metal. He landed on top of the ruined helicopter and grabbed the rotor on top and yanked it off. Then with monstrous force he sent it flying like a boomerang, letting it slice easily through another helicopter. "This…this isn't possible!"

Soldiers began pouring out of the jeeps and let lose a hail of attacks. One of them even fired a bazooka at the monster. It turned towards the oncoming missile, eyes blazing. But this time, the soldiers would not be denied. The missile struck him full on in the chest, causing it to howl in pain at the attack, which had left a sizable wound.

Matt's temporary elation left him as he saw that the blood was drying up. The skin seemed to be healing automatically, and to his shock, the wound seemed to have all but disappeared in a span of five seconds. "It recovers from damage? How can this be?!"

The monster shrieked, and a strange wave of black fire escaped its palm. The entire battalion was vaporized, and Matt, found that the dreadful cries and booms of battle were replaced by a horrible silence. He glanced at the huge figure, which was staring at the smoldering remains of its former opponents.

Instinctively, he aimed his gun, and fired out three bullets. The monster looked over, and snarled. It raised its hand, and the bullets seemed to freeze in mid-air. "What the…." Matt had never felt so afraid in his life. Why had it come to this? Immediately, he began answering his own question.

The monster glared at him, and suddenly, the bullets spun around, and slammed into his chest. "For honor…" His thoughts were barely coherent, strewn with fear and a horrible pain.

"For love…" He saw the man standing over him. He closed his eyes, not wanting to watch his excecutioner in action. "For country…."

Even as he thought these words, he felt a strange, cold feeling washing over him. The last word he heard sent him into the abyss in a strange state of confusion. "_**YAMI**_!!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kyle lowered his hands from his eyes, as the light and darkness began to fade, to reveal the regular, misty complexion of the wasteland.

A tall figure was standing on Dartz's field. It was about ten feet tall, and wore a strange, black and red armor. While all of Dartz's previous knights had visible faces covered by the hoods of their armored robes, this one's head was completely hidden by the shadow of its robe. Fierce red eyes glowed from within the hood, accentuated by the color of its robes, part of which were a fierce, flowing crimson. It had no shield, but a long, silver broadsword made up for that. Its cape was the same color as its robes, so it blended in perfectly, except for when wind blew, and the cape flapped out into the bleak night sky. It was an incredibly unnerving monster.

"This," said Dartz in a cold voice, as the knight planted its sword into the ground, before its hands rested on the hilt, "is the Divine Death Knight of Atlantis (4000/4000)."

Kaiba stared at it in awe from within the confines of the cage that Dartz's magic card had created. Even his Armed Dragon LV10 was like a toy compared to that thing. Four thousand attack points right of the bat, and since it was so incredibly difficult to summon, it probably had an insane effect as well.

"You will not get lucky and survive the wrath of this monster," said Dartz confidently. "The silence and divinity of the hellish death that I will inflict upon you will be permanent. That's quite obvious, since I was forced to give up ten levels of Atlantis monsters to summon him." He discarded two cards at this.

Kyle didn't answer him. "If you want to be considered a decent duelist, I'd advise you to be less talk, and more action."

Dartz glared at him. "Out of all my opponents, you irritate me the most. Such an insolent child… I will take great joy in crushing you. But since you seemed so eager for me to reveal the circumstances of your doom, I will oblige." Their eyes met, and lightning seemed to crackle as the Dark Magician of Chaos did its best to glare at the terrifying knight. It didn't even seem like the knight had noticed it.

"My Divine Death Knight of Atlantis has both the heavenly might of creation, along with the hellish power of destruction. First, he benefits from the dead…. It gains one hundred attack and defense points for the combined levels of all Atlantis monsters in my graveyard." The divine soldier (8500/8500) began to gain power, until it was nearly thrice as strong as Kyle's mage.

"Then, I gain four hundred life-points for every Atlantis monster in the graveyard and removed from play pile as well. There are eight, meaning I gain three thousand life-points. Did I neglect to mention that this effect is activated every turn, as long as the City of Nightmares- Atlantis, is active?"

(Kaiba: LOCKED OUT, Kyle: 200, Dartz: 15500)

Kyle frowned, but didn't say a word. He knew that Dartz's life-points were the least of his worries. He had to worry about dealing with seventy-five hundred attack points.

"Now, I'll use my Divine Death Knight to obliterate your Dark Magician of Chaos…. Attack with Blazing Blade of Heaven!"

The deadly knight raised its sword, and let lose a beam of pure white light at the Chaos Mage. The attack would have vaporized it, and followed on to hit Kyle as well, when he gave a derisive chuckle.

"You seem to have forgotten about my facedown card. I activate it now…. Dimension Wall!!"

Suddenly, a tear in the dimensional fabric of time and reality formed itself right behind Dartz. He noticed this and looked quite confused. The attack that the Divine Death Knight of Atlantis had targeted Kyle with had disappeared.

"Thanks to my Dimension Wall, the 5200 points of battle damage I was about to take is directed to _you_ instead. So get ready to take some serious damage…. Dimension Wall, FIRE!"

At that point, an intense blast of burning energy shot right out of the portal and struck Dartz head-on. He growled in intense pain, and was forced to stop himself from not screaming out in pure agony as the hellish power burned away at his skin.

(Kaiba: LOCKED OUT, Kyle: 200, Dartz: 10300)

Dartz spat his contempt. "My life-points are ten thousand more than yours, and with Divine Death Knight of Atlantis on the field, I can't lose! You are a miserable infidel, and your unwillingness to embrace order is a true crime against heaven! You will fall before the righteous power of Atlantis, mark my words!"

Kyle met his glance firmly. "Just shut up and continue your turn."

Dartz glared. "Very well. I end my turn."

Kyle drew slowly. He had his Dark Magician of Chaos, which had a respectable twenty-eight hundred attack points, but it was nothing compared to seventy-five hundred. This was making him incredibly angry…. He hated to admit it, but Kaiba would have been a great help right now. But he was still locked out for two more turns, and Kyle would need to survive those two turns by himself.

"I switch my Dark Magician of Chaos to defense mode, and set another monster facedown. End turn."

"You don't seem too bothered about my Divine Death Knight," remarked Dartz. "First I'll gain three thousand life-points!"

(Kaiba: LOCKED OUT, Kyle: 200, Dartz: 13300)

Kyle didn't say anything. "Then I summon Doom Warwolf of Atlantis (2300 + 500 2800/1500) in attack mode!" A tall, humanoid wolf dressed in samurai armor appeared and unsheathed a think katana. It roared at Kyle.

"When this monster attacks, it will switch into defense mode after attacking. But it doesn't matter, because the duel will soon end…. You see, my Divine Death Knight allows me to discard a card to grant one Atlantis monster an extra attack! Go Doom Warwolf, strike down his Dark Magician of Chaos!"

The armored samurai rushed forward, and slashed down with its deadly blade. The chaos mage gave a howl of pain as it was destroyed.

Kyle clenched his fist. "_Damn… I let me favorite monster down twice already… I won't allow him to get away with this… I swear I won't_!"

"Now, my Divine Death Knight, obliterate his facedown monster!" The monster snapped its sword up, and let lose a stream of pure white energy at the brown-backed image. Kyle allowed himself a small smirk.

"You destroyed my Skilled Apprentice Magician (100/1000)! When he's destroyed, I can special summon all copies of Apprentice Magician (400/800) from my deck and graveyard to the field…. Your Centurion destroyed the first, and there are two others in my deck. I'll call forth all three in defense mode (400 + 500 900/800) (x3)!!"

A young mage in a kneeling position. The mage had blonde hair that stood up somewhat, a red bandanna that was somewhat long in the back, purple body armor that covered its body, except for its arms, and had a green staff positioned defensively in front of itself. It was soon followed by two more mages which were identical to it.

Dartz frowned, but said nothing. Three monsters were a lot, and their abilities allowed the boy to special summon even more level two or lower spellcasters to the field.

"I draw three cards thanks to my field spell," sneered Kyle.

"I end my turn," Dartz rasped.

This was the penultimate turn during which Kaiba would stay locked out. He grimaced and said nothing as the turn passed to Kyle.

Kyle drew. Strangely enough, he was extremely calm. "I do not fear you, Dartz."

Dartz's eyes shined. "You do not fear me? Of course! Chaos never fears the heavenly wrath of Order until the very end… Although of course, the end is nearly upon you. Expect those pangs of fright to come anytime soon now!"

Kyle gave him a mocking grin. "I play White Shadow Gemini! I can now destroy one defense mode monster on your field, so say goodbye to your Doom Warwolf!" Dartz growled as the samurai was destroyed.

"I can also add a monster from my removed from play to my hand." He found his chosen card and slipped it into his hand. "Unfortunately, I cannot summon that monster this turn, so I'll end my move with that."

Dartz glared at him. "You are irritating me, you know that? I play Foolish Burial, sending my level nine Dark King of Atlantis (3000/28000) to the graveyard, which means my Divine Death Knight (9900/9900) is stronger than ever!"

Kyle snarled. Now even Kaiba's Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon equipped with Megamorph would be unable to scratch the behemoth.

He smiled wistfully, thinking of how useful Kevin's Golden Kuriboh Dragon would be at this point.

Dartz gave a scornful laugh, and glanced at his new card. It wouldn't help him, but it didn't matter. Gardner's defense would only last so long.

"Divine Death Knight, obliterate one of his Apprentice Magicians!"

Kyle shrugged as the small mage was vaporized by a column of pure white energy. "I set a level two or lower spellcaster in defense mode," chuckled Kyle. "Now you're going to need to attack me five more times before you can get in a direct attack."

Dartz knew that unless he drew a new monster, the boy was right. But with his Divine Death Knight on the field, it didn't matter if he was right. Attempting to put on a strong face, he said haughtily, "I end my turn."

Kaiba gave a sigh of relief as Kyle drew, knowing he would be able to re-enter the fray next turn. Kyle gave a Dartz a steady look.

"Seven cards…. Seven cards to take down your ultimate monster."

Dartz spat his contempt. "Take it down? Take it down? You can't, you fool! You would need ten thousand attack points to do so, and nothing in your pathetic Chaos deck is capable of that!"

Kyle glared at him. "Just watch me! I sacrifice my two facedown Apprentice Magicians to bring out this: Dark Magician of Chaos (2800 + 500 3300/2600)!"

Both mages vanished in a flash of light, only to reveal a pentagon of flames. Slowly rising from it, a mage with blue skin, black tight fitting armor, with a strange mage's hat, and a long black staff. The mage had his eyes closed while rising up, but once fully on the field, he opened his eyes, revealing yellow corneas with red irises. Upon opening his eyes, the flames of the pentagon diminished immediately.

Dartz didn't even bother to comment, knowing that the creature was nowhere near as strong as his Divine Death Knight.

"First I get back a magic card, and then I equip him with my facedown Mage Power! This will boost his attack points by five hundred for every magic or trap card on the field." Dartz shrugged, knowing that forty-three hundred was less than half the total attack points of his Divine Death Knight.

"Then I'll play the normal magic card, Sacrifice Maneuver! By sacrificing one monster on the field, I can boost the attack points of all other monsters on the field by one hundred for each of their level stars, for the duration of the turn." Despite the now deadly attack power of fifty-one hundred, Dartz still wasn't worried.

"It's not enough."

"Not if I play this! Another normal magic card, Chaos Storm! This will double the attack points of one Chaos monster on my field, before adding its base attack points to that amount!" Dartz's eyes shot open as the attack points of the chaos mage skyrocketed to a huge 13000.

"No! This is not possible!"

"It is," snapped Kyle. "I will end up taking the starting attack points of my Dark Magician of Chaos as damage, and this guy will be destroyed as well. But it doesn't matter…. Now, destroy his pathetic excuse for a monster with Ultimate Chaos Scepter Blast!" Spinning his scepter with one hand, the mage finally slammed the tip of it into the ground using both hands, sending a sphere of pure darkness at Dartz's monster. The sphere struck him hard without hesitation, causing a powerful explosion to ensue.

Kaiba couldn't believe it. The kid had actually done it.

Dartz's echo of horror could be heard throughout the vast wasteland.

(Kaiba: 4250, Kyle: 200, Dartz: 10200)

Kyle smirked. "I now play quick play magic card, Restrained Mortality! This lets me split all damage three ways this turn and convert it to life-point gain for all three of us. Since his attack points were fifty-one hundred before I played Chaos Storm, we each gain seventeen hundred life-points."

(Kaiba: 5950, Kyle: 1900, Dartz: 11900)

"Then I end my turn," chuckled Kyle. Kaiba gave Dartz a mocking smile as he drew.

Dartz drew slowly, giving him three cards. He was up against two incredibly powerful monsters, the Dark Magician of Chaos (4300/3600) and the Armed Dragon LV10 (3000/2000).

It was time to change his strategy. If this didn't work, he would simply call out his final, most powerful monster. Then absolutely nothing would be able to stop him.

"I summon Pious Fool of Atlantis (300 + 500 800/500) in attack mode." A small man dressed in white robes appeared. He was the village idiot, as far as Kyle could tell. As he walked towards his place in front of Dartz, he looked up at the sky with such reverence, that he tripped a couple of times.

"I know, I know. He's the village idiot," sighed Dartz. "But this village idiot can bring the wrath of god upon you! By sacrificing him, I can destroy a monster on my opponents field. Then both of us can special summon monsters to the field whose total levels are less than the level of the destroyed monster… Obliterate the Dark Magician of Chaos!"

The man joined his hands, and began to pray. There was a thunderous explosion, and both monsters were vaporized by a bolt of lightning. Kyle frowned, but found the two necessary cards nonetheless. "Very well then… I summon Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000) and the Mythical Beast Cerberus (1400/1100)!"

Instantly materializing onto the field was a large blue and purple large dog like creature with sharp fangs, claws, and fur that was floating off of his paws and neck. The fur seemed almost like purple energy that floated about.

It was soon followed by a young, child like mage in white and blue robes, with a blue kind of body suit, a strange mage's hate, holding a strange looking scepter, and long silver hair.

"And I'll bring out my two Brute Soldiers of Atlantis!" thundered Dartz. Both Kaiba and Kyle gasped as the two huge demons appeared, clad in gray armor. All the effects came into play, and their stats rose incredibly (3400/1400).

Kaiba smugly grinned. He knew how difficult these monsters had been to destroy the last time around. Well, he still had his Armed Dragon LV10. With its effect, it shouldn't be too difficult to rid Dartz's field of those menaces and launch an all-out assault on his life-points.

Seeing Kaiba's smug look, Dartz chuckled. "I know what you're thinking, Kaiba. I didn't summon these monsters to simply provide that overgrown lizard of yours with a target. What I planned was to play this card: Revival of Dreams! When a field card with 'Atlantis' in its name is in play, I can sacrifice all monsters on my field to draw two cards per monster, and also gain their total attack points as life-points!"

(Kaiba: 5950, Kyle: 1900, Dartz: 18700)

Kyle shrugged. This didn't really matter. "Don't forget, every time one of us draws a card, my Silent Magician LV4 gains a counter. Since you drew four, he gains four counters, each of which adds five hundred attack points to his score."

Dartz didn't seem worried by the fact that the white magician (3000/1000) was now as strong as a Blue Eyes. "Not to mention," continued Kyle, "your activation of a magic card granted my Mythical Beast Cerberus a counter. Each counter gives him five hundred attack points, although he loses all counters after he attacks." (1900/1100)

Kaiba was impressed by Kyle's choice of monsters. These low level monsters would be fine attackers, which was what they needed against nearly nineteen thousand life-points.

"Then I set one card facedown and end my turn," concluded Dartz.

Kaiba drew, relieved to be able to do so after five agonizing turns. He glared at Dartz. "I'll sacrifice my Armed Dragon LV10 to summon his ultimate form!" roared Kaiba… "Now you'll know pain! Come on out, Armed Dragon LV12 (3600/2400)!!"

Kyle watched in amazement as the dragon in shiny metal armor began to morph. It was about fifteen feet long as it was, and it was only growing bigger. It let lose a shriek of pain as its muscles bulged, knocking off the metal armor to reveal blood red skin that was stretched across a rock-like body. Its claws grew longer and more cruelly hooked, and soon, golden armor clapped down on its body. Its fangs were now sharper, and its horrible eyes attained a silver shade. Spikes sprouted out of its back, going all the way to its tail. It looked like a twenty-foot long killing machine.

It let lose a thunderous roar and reared up to its full height, casting a shadow on Kyle's weaker spellcasters. "Very impressive," mused Dartz.

"I'll show you just how impressive he is!" snarled Kaiba. "I can use his effect to destroy one card per turn on your field. If it's a monster, you're dealt half its attack points as damage. Unfortunately, there is no monster on your field, so I'll target that pathetic facedown. Blow it away with Metamorphosis Burst!"

The dragon roared once again, and spat out a massive ball of blood red flames at the facedown card. "Did I neglect to mention that it gains six hundred attack points every time I use this effect (4200/2400)? Now attack him directly!" The dragon let lose another energy attack, which hit Dartz's chest, causing him to grunt in pain.

"Damn you…."

(Kaiba: 5950, Kyle: 1900, Dartz: 14500)

"Language," reprimanded Kaiba. "I set two cards and end my turn."

Kyle drew. He was having trouble concentrated, and he felt his vision going blurry. He swore…. The duel was taking its toll on him. Kaiba was far more experienced, having dueled a number of powerful opponents like Pegasus, Yugi, Dartz, Ishizu, and Alister. But while he was physically fit, and also a deadly duelist, the direct attacks were weakening Kyle slowly.

"Hurry up, child!" spat Dartz. "We don't have all day!"

Kyle's eyes snapped open. He looked over his five cards, and a small smile spread across his face. "Remember what you said about your field card, when you first played it against Kaiba and Kevin?"

Dartz growled. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that your City of Nightmares- Atlantis, can be destroyed if it's hit by three destruction effects at one time." Dartz's eyes widened. "No! Impossible! You can't do that!"

"Tell it to the judge," sneered Kyle. "C'mon out, Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600 + 500 2100/1000)!" A mage with mostly maroon armor and a cape, with gold trim and some blue jewels, appeared onto the field. He had a hood over his head, which covered blue skin. In his hands were a sword and shield, showing he wasn't just a mage, but was also a warrior.

"Since I just normal summoned Breaker, his effect goes off. He now gains a Spell Counter, granting him an additional 300 attack points (2100 + 300 = 2400/1000). But he's not going to keep his counter for long, because I'm activating his other special ability. By removing his counter, he can destroy one spell or trap on the field. Blow up his City of Nightmares!"

The warrior slammed his sword into the ground, and there was a distant roar. The ground shook a bit, and the mists seemed to recede.

"Then I'll play Premature Burial, to revive the Dark Magician (2500 + 500 3000/2100)!" The familiar purple-robed mage appeared on the field and smirked at Dartz, raising its long, green staff.

"First, I draw a card thanks to the effect of my field magic card. Now, Silent Magician LV4 will level up!" Glowing momentarily, the young mage suddenly started growing in height. His boyish features melted away to adult features, including well toned muscles that were formed within the blue body suit underneath of his robes.

"Meet Silent Magician LV8 (3500/1000)!" The new mage swung his staff around and pointed it at Dartz. Meanwhile, Cerberus began to glow as it gained another counter (2400/1100).

"I'm not through yet, for I have another spell, this one called Dark Magic Attack! With Dark Magician on my field, this card destroys all of your spell and trap cards!"

Pointing his staff into the air, the purple armored mage gave out a small cry as green energy shot out in a streak of energy. It slammed into the ground, causing an even larger earthquake. The ground began to shake in earnest now. One could tell that the wasteland was starting to struggle to maintain itself.

Also, Cerberus growled as its strength only increased (2900/1100).

"Finally, I'll end this with Mystical Space Typhoon!" Without warning, a large typhoon began tearing through entire place. It slammed into the ground, and the mist began to get sucked into it. There was a horrible screeching sound as magma flares exploded out of the ground. The three duelists looked around each other in shock as the entire place erupted in a blaze of light.

As the light subsided, Kaiba squinted around himself, only to find that they were back in

They were in the same, large, spacious room that was devoid of furniture and completely dark except for a glowing, green chandelier in the center of the ceiling. The Seal, however, was still present. Dartz's eyes were glowing, and his face was the image of shock. He was panting. It seemed the destruction of his field card had taken its toll on him.

"My card…. Has a dying effect. When its destroyed, the strongest monster on our respective fields are destroyed. I have to discard cards from my deck equal to the total attack points of the monsters divided by two hundred."

The Armed Dragon LV12 and the Silent Magician LV8 exploded. Since there total attack points were seventy-one hundred thousand, Dartz was forced to discard thirty-six cards from his deck, leaving him with about twenty-five. Despite this, Kaiba was unhappy. While it was easy for Kyle to revive his magician, his Armed Dragon LV12 was gone forever.

"I'm nowhere near done," smirked Kyle. "I still have my Mythical Beast Cerberus (3400/1100). Plus, I chained White Mage's Mandate. When a light spellcaster with sent to the graveyard, I draw one card for every two levels of that monster. Since my Silent Magician is level eight, I draw four cards." This left him with a hand of five.

"Oh…. How perfect. I play Polymerization, fusing my Dark Magician with the Buster Blader (2600/2300) in my hand to summon Dark Paladin (2900 + 500 3400/2400)!"

Dartz only stood in shock as they watched the warrior and mage appear on the field. The two then began to swirl together, causing a black sphere to appear. The sphere touched down on the ground, and then finally dissipated to reveal a new mage. He had blue skin, long grey hair which was flowing out of his odd shaped helmet, and red eyes. He wore powerful looking blue armor with orange stripes all over it, and held a large magical staff that had a lance like sword on the top of it.

The animal like spellcaster monster let out a roar of triumph (3900/1100).

"Now, he gains five hundred attack points for every dragon in all graveyards. I have none, but Kaiba here has his Blue Eyes, all three forms of Horus, and all five forms of the Armed Dragons. Your Cursed Dragon of Atlantis is unfortunately a fiend type. Nine dragons means my Dark Paladin gains forty-five hundred attack points!"

The warrior-mage closed his eyes as he began to glow. When his eyes snapped open, they revealed power beyond the understanding of mortals. It snapped its lance around, and let out a howl (7900/2400).

"Now, attack his life-points directly!" The magical warrior raised its scimitar and slashed it downwards, creating a mighty sonic wave that ripped through the air on its way towards Dartz. It slammed into his chest, causing him to gasp in pain. He shook it off, only it time to hear Kyle ordered the Cerberus to attack.

Letting out a loud snarl, the blue and purple dog leapt into the air and came down hard onto the Atlantian. It attempted to gore him with its claws, but Dartz slammed his fist into its face. Powered by his magical power, a column of green light exploded into its face, throwing it back to Kyle's field. The dog-like creature performed a fantastic twist in mid-air, and was able to land on its feet.

"After attacking, Cerberus' attack points go down to their original value." (1400 + 500 1900/1100)

(Kaiba: 5950, Kyle: 1900, Dartz: 2200)

"I'll end with a facedown," said Kyle haughtily.

Dartz was panting as he drew. He was just as exhausted as the rest of them. Kaiba had dueled Kagemaru and Bakura, and then followed it up with the Dead Duelists. He had also survived Dartz's onslaught for an incredible amount of time. Kyle had faced Jan and Karen, and then Dartz, but he wasn't strong enough to withstand so much punishment. As for Dartz, he had dueled Joey, Zane, Kevin, Bakura, and was still up against two deadly opponents. Even his body could only withstand so much.

His eyes glazed over. "Its time to end this duel."

Kyle snorted. "Maybe I can end it while defeating you. As I can see, you have twenty-seven hundred life-points, while the two of us have nearly eight thousand. Plus, I can defend Kaiba with either of my monsters."

Dartz shook his head. "What you will now face is the essence of Paradise. So great and terrible is its power, that all Creation nearly fell before its rage." He considered.

"Tell me…. What do you know of the gods?" He directed the question to Kyle, who shrugged.

"I've seen Obelisk in action. Its nasty, and its supposed to be the weakest. All I know is that the Egyptian God monsters handed your posterior to you on a silver platter when you last tried this rubbish. I can see that you're so pathetic right now, that even though neither Kaiba nor myself have gods, you're still going to lose."

Dartz seemed to enjoy the criticism. "Very well. We shall see about that. I play Cursed Ritual. This allows me to summon one Atlantis monster from my graveyard, regardless of summoning cost. I choose to call upon Dark King of Atlantis !" The huge, hulking figure. It was about ten feet tall, and wore golden armor. It had a crown, and although one would think that it was benevolent, the gigantic battle-axe it held said differently. Its eyes reflected an imperialistic sense, and it gave a battle cry as it descended onto the field. "When he is special summoned, I draw one card." Dartz snapped the top card off his deck.

Suddenly, the King's power fell to a simple zero. Dartz smirked at Kyle and Kaiba's confusion. "My Cursed Ritual card has a neat effect. I can reduce the attack points of the special summoned monster to zero, and in return remove from play one monster from my opponent's graveyard for each of its level stars. Its eight, so I'll remove from play Armed Dragons LV 3,5,7,10 and 12, plus Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 4,6, and 8!"

Kaiba gasped as the images of his eight dragons all appeared in front of him. Each one gave a sad growl before they disappeared. The Dark Paladin (3900/2400) was now greatly weakened.

"Then I activate Monster Reborn!" He pointed at his graveyard, and a deep rumbling began to echo from it. "Rise up… Warlord of Atlantis (2000 + 500 2500/1600)!"

The old warrior appeared, clad in jet black armor. Its face was covered by a crude helmet. However, it held a long scimitar in one hand, which looked slightly like the one that was wielded by a Vorse Raider. It looked up and let lose a howl of anger.

"_**The end of Chaos has arrived. I play the ritual magic card, RISE OF THE GREAT BEAST!**_" The two monsters vanished, as did a card from Dartz's hand. Instead of laughing hysterically, his face was devoid of all emotion, except perhaps a little smugness.

Kyle didn't seem too worried, but Kaiba's eyes had gone wide. "What's wrong?" grunted the teenager. "I can't…. I can't believe it," whispered Kaiba. "He's done it. The damned fool has actually done it. There's no way for us to win now."

Suddenly, the walls exploded around them. Kyle snarled in shock as debris were sent flying in all directions. Dartz's eyes were blazing as he raised his hand. He began to speak in an archaic language that none but the most unholy of necromancers would be able to understand.

The ground began to shake, and Kaiba could hear the distant screams of people throughout New York. His face was drenched in sweat. "_No, damn it! It took me last time… But I won't let it happen again! But how? It's invincible! Its over! We can't win!_"

Suddenly, the entire Earth seemed to shudder, and a divine roar echoed through the sky. "_**FEEL THE WRATH OF GOD!**_" screamed Dartz, slamming a card onto his Duel Disk. It was so dark, yet it gave off so much light, that the two duelists found it nigh impossible to discern what was on the card.

A titanic form burst through the clouds. It seemed to stretch on forever and ever… Slowly, it wound itself around the Empire State Building so that Kyle could glimpse its form.

It was insanely large; its size was something that the mortal mind could not comprehend. Its skin was dark purple in color, although patches were of a lighter shade. Its back was lined with spines and fins resembling those of a fish. Although its body was that of a serpent, its jaws and mouth were those of a dragon. It could have easily swallowed a bus within those deadly jaws, lined with dozens of razor sharp teeth. But most ferocious were its eyes. They reflected pure evil at its fullest. Hatred, greed and genocide. Within that sinuous creature was the embodiment of Sin; it was a creature sent to Earth by Satan himself to bring darkness and evil to the World of Men.

Dartz may have considered this creature to be a god, but it was a devil, nothing more.

"_**Orichalcos God- Great Leviathan (10000/10000)!**_"

Kyle was stunned. He knew something powerful had been on its way, but not something _that_ powerful. He simply stared at the towering monster in horror.

"The Leviathan…. It's beautiful!" whispered Dartz, transfixed by the horrific creature that had stuck its head into the building. It roared at this, and glared at Kaiba and Kyle. "Damn…. Even my Dark Paladin can't defeat that," snarled Kyle to himself. Come to think of it, they'd be very hard-pressed to think of even one monster between the two of them that could defeat the serpentine demon that Dartz worshipped.

"Damn that thing….. How can we defeat it?" roared Kyle to no one in particular.

Kaiba was on his feet. Kyle had thought that it would be impossible to break the soul of Seto Kaiba, but it seemed like it was possible. He simply stared at the Leviathan with an expression alien to both Kaiba and Kyle, arrogant personalities that they possessed. They weren't afraid, parse, it was simply overwhelming to stand there and be dwarfed by the gigantic serpent.

But Kaiba had a deeper reason for his fear. Last time around, he had been absorbed by the Leviathan. It was only for a few minutes before Yami had unleashed the Egyptian Gods to battle the Serpent God, but it seemed like an eternity. The feel of being inside that very embodiment of darkness was an experience worse than any he could ever describe. His mind had been linked to every single soul who was in there with him, and he felt their fear…. He was in the personal hell of thousands at the same time. It was a wonder that the mental torture had not driven him to the point of madness.

"Now do you see that you cannot win?" shrieked Dartz. "Come on, Kaiba, and join your brother in the hell where all sinners must repent!"

Kaiba's eyes shot open. "Mokuba?" He left the word hanging. Dartz ignored it, and turned to Kyle.

"Your sister is finished as well! Her soul has been claimed by the sacred power of the Leviathan, and soon it will rise not as a card, but in all its divine glory!"

Kyle's eyes narrowed as well, and as he spoke, his voice quivered. "Tea?"

At that moment, Kyle and Kaiba understood each other better than two individuals who thought poorly of each other ever did. The common love of a sibling brought their conscious minds together. The very reminder of the fact that they had a loved one whom they were fighting for linked their consciousnesses to such an extent that one was the other now.

"If I win," whispered Kyle. "Tea will be freed." "And I will get Mokuba back," said Kaiba to no one in particular.

Kyle's dark blue, ocean like eyes locked with Kaiba's piercing sky blue ones, and then they looked back at Dartz. "I don't give a damn about your so-called god," sneered Kaiba, all fear gone. All that remained was a desire to free his brother. Unspeakable hatred towards the man standing there filled him, and he wished with all his soul to finish him off forever.

"All I care about is that I will end this façade forever by defeating you and getting my brother back!"

Dartz's eyes mirrored those of the Leviathan. "Very well! Heresy will not go unpunished! My god is immune to magic, traps and monster effects, to the extent that even the Seal does not boost his strength. Great Leviathan…. Attack with Divine Vengeance Burst!" The purple serpent opened its maw, revealing its razor sharp teeth once again. A small black dot was going in it, which suddenly expanded to the size of a school bus.

"The Leviathan was brought onto Earth to destroy infidels and those who refused to accept the will of Order! Now, OBLITERATE KAIBA!"

The black ball of energy expanded further. The Leviathan's body shook as the energy shook wildly and struggled to break free of the confines of the Serpent God's maw. Suddenly, the attack exploded in a vortex of black flames that powered its way through the air towards Kaiba, who simply stood there with his arms crossed.

"DIE!!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami grunted under the combined pressure of Tea's weight, and also the sudden feeling of power that he felt. He gasped, and set her down. It was familiar. "The Leviathan…."

Dartz had succeeded. Now, he doubted that Kaiba, Kyle, Kevin and Bakura really did stand any chance. He glanced despairingly at his own hands. He was exhausted. First he had faced Arkana, which had partially drained him due to the fact that he had been forced to summon Ra at the end. Of course, his duel with Solomon had been downright murder, what with the number of times he had summoned Obelisk and Slifer, not to mention the fusion of Timeaus and Dark Magician of Chaos at the end.

By the time he had defeated Anubis, he had not a drop of magical energy left in him. He had to actually carry Tea in his arms rather than use his Puzzle. If any of his allies were standing, he would hopefully have enough energy left to withstand one of Dartz's attacks to give any remaining opposition to Dartz the opportunity to escape. Then again, this was a Tournament of Shadows. All that the survivors would be able to do was rest for a few minutes before facing Dartz in what might be a hopeless duel.

"Damn this… Damn it all!" he shouted at the night sky through a window. "Why?! Why are you doing this to me?" The black void offered him no reply.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba spoke with venom dripping from his voice. "Do you think I'd leave myself undefended over your overgrown goldfish? Activate Negate Attack!" A swirling vortex appeared around in front of the blazing black flames that were plummeting towards the CEO.

Dartz's eyes widened. "No!"

The flames nearly broke through the vortex and continued on to hit Kaiba, but at the last second they dissipated. Kaiba sneered. "Most monsters with immunities prevent effects from affecting _them_. But none of them can prevent my cards from affecting their attacks."

Dartz snarled. "My divine creature will bring Paradise, one way or another!" A malicious look entered his eyes as he continued. "You see, the Leviathan does not like waiting. If any of you are still standing five turns from now, it won't matter. On the fourth of my standby-phases after his summoning, the Leviathan will end the duel."

Kyle and Kaiba both gasped. "_Damn_!" thought Kyle. "_That means we now have only three more turns to take down something with ten thousand attack points and immunities to everything, or we lose! Why do the bad guys always get cards like that_?"

"I do not need anything else to win besides my Great Beast. Turn end."

Kaiba drew slowly, and suddenly smirked. Even though Dartz had his Leviathan, he suddenly felt uncomfortable. Anyone would after seeing such an unnaturally confident look on the expert duelist's face.

"Dartz…. Here comes your worst nightmare. I think its time for your snake to get reacquainted with this…. _**The Fang of Critias!**_"

The silence in the room was overpowering. Nobody dared speak, breath, or even blink for fear of missing the next move the deadly duelist was about to perform. Kyle's eyes were wide, and he could barely believe his eyes. "Critias….. The freakin' Legendary Dragon!" he thought to himself.

"Now, I'll send my facedown Ring of Destruction to the graveyard in order to give Critias an offering…." A large brown dragon with powerful arms and legs, mighty wings, and sharp claws then appeared on the field with a mighty roar. It glared straight at Dartz, seemingly directing all its anger at him.

A large ring with many explosives attached on its sides then appeared. It then flew up next to the massive brown dragon, and both began to glow.

Kaiba's grin grew wider. "Critias… He's accepted this offering. Now, merge to form a dragon the likes of which the world has never seen before!"

A rift in existence shrieked open, and both were drawn into the vortex. Even from Atlantian's point of view could be seen a chaotic maelstrom of colors, lights, and sounds that few had ever lived to experience. He knew that something was coming, something powerful that he would have a hell of a time fighting.

Yet from this portal into Paradise was to emerge one of the darkest monsters that ever graced this Earth. The roars that heralded the onset of such a beast were unlike those of Kaiba's other dragons. It was a cacophony of high-pitched yelps and long-drawn out screeches that would make the hair of the dead stand on end. A fitting overture for the dragon that hovered out of the vortex.

Indeed, it was a wyvern whose skin was of the purest white. But that didn't make it seem any less dangerous. The deathly creature measured about thirty feet long from nose to the tip of its tail, and thin spines lined its back, starting at the space between its shoulders blades and continuing on till the end of its tail. Each of its claws were about six inches long, and its teeth were the size of a man's arm. Two huge wings cast a shadow across the field, and its tail snapped about, cutting into the marble floor and leaving gashes the a foot long. Eyes of cold iron gazed upon the Leviathan, and the two wyrms roared at each other with sheer hatred. One could tell that the two had a history.

"Halo Void Dragon (2900/2500)!" laughed Kaiba, staring at Dartz with all the authority of Fate itself.

"Bah!" spat Dartz. "That Legendary Dragon faced me last time, and I crushed it! What makes you think it will succeed this time?" Kaiba's eyes glinted with annoyance.

"Well, let's just say practice makes perfect. But first, I summon Infernal Dragon (2000/0) in attack mode!" A tower of flames shot up from the ground without warning, and slowly from it, a dragon with black skin and a white under belly materialized onto the field. It had sharp clawed feet and hands, with a strong tail that had a sharp pitchfork like end, large blade like spikes sticking out from its knees and backside, mighty wings with black on the outside and red on the inside, and an iguana like hood on its face.

"Is that iguana going to defeat the Serpent God?" sneered Dartz.

Kaiba groaned. "Damn it, can't you actually shut up once in a while?!" His question was met with silence.

"Now I activate Halo Void Dragon's special ability! By sacrificing one monster on my field per turn, I can deal you damage equal to that monster's attack, _or_ defense points!"

The white dragon roared, and it spat out a globule of white energy. It began to slowly take the shape of a large ring with many explosives attached on its sides. The ring floated over to the Infernal Dragon clapped around its neck, causing it to roar in pain.

The ring began to spin as Kyle watched with mild interest. Suddenly, it exploded, and the zombie-like dragon screeched as it was literally ripped apart by a wave of radioactive energy. The wave continued on and slammed into Dartz, causing him to grunt in pain as the nuclear power seeped into his body.

"And I gain life-points equal to the monsters level multiplied by two hundred. I'll target Kyle for this effect." Kyle felt a surging warmth flow through his body as his life-points increased by nearly fifty percent.

(Kaiba: 5950, Kyle: 2700, Dartz: 200)

"Then I set a card and end my turn."

Kyle drew, smirking. "Idiot! Time for your Leviathan to fall. First of all, don't forget that throughout your two turns, Cerberus (1900 + 2000 3900/1100) gained four spell counters. But I don't intend on using him to combat your menace."

Dartz's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

"Here goes my Magical Dimension! First, I must sacrifice one spellcaster on the field."

Rising up onto the field was a golden statue suspended by four chains within a square metal pole box. The statue had doors on its top half and depicted some kind of face. The twin doors on the top half the statue instantly swung open and shot out a red beam at the dog-like beast. For a brief instant, the beast closed his eyes and bowed his head before being sucked into the statue. The doors instantly shut.

"Next, I'm allowed to special summon any Spellcaster I have in my hand to the field in my Mythical Beast's place. C'mon out….Dark Magician Girl (2000 + 500 2500/1700)!"

The coffin opened to reveal a young woman with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a skimpy blue and pink mage's dress that showed her cleavage quite well with the dress barely covering her back side, a blue and pink mage's hat, and a staff in her right hand.

"Since Dark Magician Girl was special summoned, the effect of my field magic card lets me draw one more card." Kyle smirked at the sight of his new card. It was just what he needed. "Next I play Supreme Sage's Stone! This allows me to special summon my Dark Magician from my deck, hand, graveyard, or removed from play pile, while Dark Magician Girl is on the field. C'mon out… Dark Magician (2500 + 500 3000/2100)!"

Appearing without a moment's hesitation was the purple robed mage once more. He instantly crossed his arms with his staff in hand upon his reappearance.

"What's he doing…." thought Kaiba silently. "He knows that this can't help Halo Void Dragon, as I can only sacrifice a monster on my field, not his. These magicians are strong, but the Leviathan has ten thousand attack points. His plan had better be good."

Kyle wasn't done by any rate. "Next I sacrifice Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl to call upon the mighty Sorcerer of Dark Magic (3200 + 500 3700/2800)!"

Both mages vanished in a flash, but was quickly replaced by a more powerful mage. He wore black body armor that covered a majority of his body, except his muscular arms. He had a set of mages robes on over top the armor that were an odd color of blue. On his back, a black cape reached to his feet. A strange set of shoulder pads and a stranger spike like structure rose behind his head. Also, a black hat covered his head, revealing his blue eyes and face, with a little of his blonde hair, only. His hands were covered in black gloves, and in his right hand was a powerful staff. It was green with a tri-pitch fork like design, with a small blue sphere in the center.

"Since I special summoned both Dark Magician and Sorcerer of Dark Magic, I draw two more cards." Kyle smirked at his catch.

"Next I activate my facedown Trap Booster, to play Trap Booster, which lets me play trap cards from my hand. I play Pitch Black Power Stone!" Materializing onto the field in front of Kyle but off to the side, was a small pedestal with a black seeing stone that had a golden triangle within it.

"This trap starts out with three Spell Counters. Once each turn, I can remove a counter and add it to any card on the field that can hold one. I won't need to do that, mostly because of this next card, Miracle Restoring! By removing two spell counters on my field, I can special summon Dark Magician or Buster Blader from my graveyard. I'll once again call forth the Dark Magician (2500 + 500 3000/2100)!"

Immediately reappearing onto Kyle's field was the purple robed mage. He took up his usual crossed arm stance and glared at the towering serpent. "This gets better and better….. I draw one more card thanks to his special summoning." Kaiba began to see Kyle's strategy.

"_He's got three monsters on the field, one with thirty-nine attack points, one with three thousand, and one with thirty-seven hundred. Together, that's ten thousand six hundred, more than enough to destroy Dartz's Leviathan. I've seen this strategy before. Is it really possible that Kyle is going to mimic one of Yugi's most situational moves_?"

"I'll continue with Underworld Gem! By removing five cards in my graveyard from play, I can mimic the effect of one magic card in my graveyard. I'll remove Trap Booster, Miracle Restoring, Mythical Beast Cerberus (1400/1100), Sacrifice Maneuver, and Mage Power, to copy Dedication through Light and Darkness! I'll sacrifice my Dark Magician to once again summon my favorite monster… Dark Magician of Chaos (2800 + 500 3300/2600)!"

The Dark Magician disappeared. Lightning instantly began striking the field rapidly in a single area. After a few moments, a figure appeared in the striking and slowly burst out of the bolts. Once the lightning finally stopped, a mage decked out in black leather armor, with an odd mage's hat, blue skin shown only on his face, and a black staff in his hand appeared. The mage finally opened his eyes, revealing strange yellow corneas and red irises.

"Damn it… Again it comes back!" snarled Dartz in anger. "Yup, it does. I think I'll pull Premature Burial from the graveyard with his effect. Don't forget, I draw an additional card since he was special summoned." Kyle glanced over his hand of three cards. Dang, he still hadn't drawn what he needed.

"Oh well…. Here goes Premature Burial, which will revive my Dark Magician Girl (2000 + 500 2500/1700)!" The female, blonde spellcaster reappeared on the field, dressed in her regular blue outfit.

"Don't forget, she gains another three hundred attack points since I have Dark Magician in my graveyard!" The female magician closed her eyes, and she glowed with purple energy. Upon opening her eyes, they were filled with determination (2500 + 300 2800/1700).

Kaiba looked at Kyle's field in awe. "_Dark Paladin, Dark Magician of Chaos, Dark Magician Girl and Sorcerer of Dark Magic all on the field at once? Even Yugi doesn't play as intense duels as this! I've gotta say, this Gardner kid has some serious potential_."

Kyle continued to smirk. "I play Double Spell, discarding Repayment of Losses, to take one magic card from your graveyard!" He pointed at Dartz. "I'll take your Monster Reborn, and instantly play it to summon my Dark Magician (2500 + 500 3000/2100) once again!"

The purple robed spellcaster appeared at the head of the small army of monsters, his face radiating sheer confidence. Kyle drew two more cards, and his face broke into a grin.

"Perfect! I play the magic card Love of Life! This only activates when I have five spellcasters on my field. I gain life-points equal to their total levels multiplied by three hundred. Dark Magician of Chaos and Dark Paladin are level eight, and Sorcerer of Dark Magic is level nine. Dark Magician is level seven, and Dark Magician Girl is level six. That means I gain ten thousand four hundred life-points."

(Kaiba: 5950, Kyle: 12300, Dartz: 200)

Kaiba looked at the army of spellcasters, and smirked. He new exactly what was coming next. "I chain Fruits of Greed. When I gain three thousand or more life-points in one turn, I draw one card per thousand life-points, rounded down. I draw ten cards."

Kyle spread out his full hand. Finally, he had an army of monsters plus a large number of cards to work with.

"This is the end for your Leviathan! I play Dark Magic Nova, which can only be equipped to Dark Magician of Chaos!" The mighty mage closed his eyes, and began to glow. Streams of energy seemed to flow into him from every other mage on the field.

"Till the end of the turn, I can increase his attack points by the original attack points of every spellcaster on my field, although he is the only one who can attack." The chaos mage's eyes snapped open, revealing pure determination, and a will to destroy the foul wyrm that was coiled around the building, with its head sticking in the cavernous room.

"End this with Chaos Scepter Blast!" Kaiba smirked as the mage began spinning his scepter with one hand, the mage finally slammed the tip of it into the ground using both hands, sending a sphere of pure darkness at the head of the Serpent God (13900/2600).

"Fool! Do you think I would leave my god undefended?!" screamed Dartz. "I can activate the effect of the monster I sacrificed to my ritual magic card on my last turn from the graveyard! Avatar of the Great Beast (1500/1500), which can be removed from play at any time to reduce the attack of one attacking monster to zero!"

Kyle's eyes widened as the Dark Magician of Chaos' attack points fell to an amount that even the weakest creature could beat. "No! Stop!"

"Too late!" shrieked Dartz. "Counter with Divine Vengeance Burst!" The serpentine demon opened its mouth, and a cloud of black energy formed within its maw. With a roar, it spat out the sphere in the direction of the Dark Magician of Chaos. It seemed to absorb the mage's own attack, and slammed into him, causing him to scream in pain as it began to burn through his very soul.

There was an explosion, and it through Kyle and Kaiba both several feet away.

(Kaiba: 5950, Kyle: 2300, Dartz: 200)

As the smoke cleared, the two duelists staggered to their feet. "Damn this…." gasped Kaiba. There was a huge crevice in the marble floor where the Dark Magician of Chaos had been.

They had just lost their best chance of defeating the Orichalcos God.

"There is no way for you to win!" shrieked Dartz. "You should accept that fact and submit to the Great Beast, and atone for your sin of going against the will of Order!"

Kyle staggered to his feet. "Just…. SHUT UP!" he exploded. "I don't give a damn about your freakin' 'order'! Mankind can live by itself, and we don't need jackasses like you causing more problems for us. Your stupid ideals have killed far more people than it has hurt! Why can't you just leave us alone?"

"Do not presume that you can speak to me in such a way!" screamed Dartz, a vein pulsing in his forehead. "I am the herald of heaven, and you will pay for attempting to stop the Grand Crusade!"

Kyle shook his head and ignored him, trying to fight off the dull pain that was throbbing throughout his body. He felt like collapsing, but he knew he couldn't do that. "_Too many people are depending on me winning… But is it possible? Can I actually defeat his Orichalcos God_?"

"I set three cards facedown and end my turn," he said softly.

Dartz drew. "Time to activate one of my Orichalcos' God's effects! By removing an Atlantis monster from play, I can equip it to one of your mages. I will remove from play Dark King of Atlantis (3000/2800) in order to have him drain your Dark Paladin!"

The warrior mage howled in pain as red energy crackled around him. "At the end of your next turn, you will lose life-points equal to his level multiplied by two hundred, plus my Dark King's level multiplied by one hundred. That makes for twenty-four hundred points of damage. This is in case you block my attack. Now, Great Leviathan…. Destroy the Dark Magician Girl!"

The god once again opened its maw, and Kyle could feel its overwhelming breath just before it blasted out a column of black fire at the blonde spellcaster, who cried out in shock. The Dark Magician, Sorcerer of Dark Magic and even the weakened Dark Paladin all growled in anger, but knew they could do nothing, lest risk being destroyed themselves.

"I will not let you destroy my Dark Magician Girl!" roared Kyle. "I activate Magic Cylinder, which will negate your attack and deal you damage equal to your Great Leviathan's attack points!"

Two pink barrels with a checker pattern on the ends facing the blast and a yellow question mark on each appeared in front of the Dark Magician Girl. The blast of black energy entered one and began to dissipate. Kyle nodded at the blonde magician, who snapped her staff forward.

The other barrel began to glow, and it spat out a blast of black fire right back at Dartz, who sneered.

"By discarding a card from my hand, the Leviathan allows me to reduce all effect damage to zero until my next standby phase." A barrier sprung up around Dartz. The black blast rebounded off it and struck the floor, leaving a small, smoking crater. It could barely be noticed amongst all the smoldering wreckage of the gaunt room.

Dartz smirked. "Two turns are already up. There is no hope for you fools."

Kaiba drew heavily. There was not a thing he could do at this rate. He didn't have a monster, meaning his Halo Void Dragon would be unable to deal Dartz the required damage. He grimaced as he realized that the Ring of Destruction itself would have been more useful. Had he used it on the Dark Magician Girl, it would have finished Dartz, while still leaving both himself and Kyle with enough life-points to survive. "I switch Halo Void Dragon to defense mode and end my turn," he said quietly.

The white dragon growled and crossed its wings over its body.

It was Kyle's turn once again. He looked despairingly at all his monsters. He knew that something had to be done about Dark Paladin, otherwise he would lose the duel. He did have some options, but he didn't know if it would be wise to use them. Still, he had to stay in the game.

"I'll play Monster Revival, discarding one card from my hand to add a monster from my removed from play pile to my hand. I'll bring back the Dark Magician of Chaos." He found the necessary card, and added it to his hand.

He closed his eyes. "_Dark Magician Girl… Dark Paladin… I'm very sorry about this. But I can't lose this duel! Far too much is riding on it._"

"I sacrifice Dark Magician Girl and Dark Paladin to summon Dark Magician of Chaos (2800 + 500 3300/2600) in defense mode!" Once again the deadly Chaos Mage appeared on Kyle's field, pointing his staff straight at Dartz and the Leviathan. The former looked bored, and sneered, "Is that pathetic mage all you have to combat me and the might of the Great Leviathan?"

Kyle's eyes narrowed. "I will first add a magic card to my hand, and then switch Dark Magician and Sorcerer of Dark Magic to defense mode as well. I set a card before ending my turn."

Dartz sneered as he drew. "I set this card, and then I will use my Great Leviathan to end the threat of that Legendary Dragon, Kaiba, with Divine Vengeance Burst!" The monster roared and let lose all its power in a barrage of black flames, which plummeted towards the white dragon. Kaiba gasped in shock as the attack hit full on.

"NO!" he roared, but it was eclipsed by the screeches of his Halo Void Dragon. It was atomized within seconds, leaving his field bare. "Damn this…" he whispered.

"I end my turn," sneered Dartz. "Unless you fools can defeat me and the Leviathan in the next two turns, Order will reign supreme for an eternity!"

Kaiba drew, a sweat seeping down his forehead. His eyes were red, and his breath heavy. "I end my turn." "_Damn it… I failed. I failed Mokuba. I failed Serenity. I failed my damn self!_ _Its over_."

Kyle was eerily silent as he drew. He closed his eyes. "Dartz… I think you're an abominable idiot, but I sympathize with you. You have gone through more crap in your life than the most of us have. I know Kaiba's history, and in that way, we all share something in common. You fought your father… Kaiba conspired against Gozaburo Kaiba… And I killed my uncle, my legal guardian."

Dartz sneered. "Where is all this going?"

"This is a lesson to show you that Chaos can do good. Most people have a wrong conception of it. Chaos is not only demons and evil fiends: our life is Chaos. Yes… Its time you get a wake-up call, in the form of the strongest force of Chaos to ever exist."

Kaiba's ears perked up. "He can't be…."

"Now…. Face my ultimate power! I play the magic card I brought back with my Chaos Mage's effect…. Dark Magic Attack!" Pointing his staff into the air, the purple armored mage gave out a small cry as green energy shot out in a streak of energy. The streak hit Dartz's face down card, shattering it upon impact.

"We're polar opposites, you and I," continued Kyle, holding up his next card. "But the most different can sometimes be the most similar. We have such a lot in common, as much as brothers, yet we have so much that separates us." He closed his eyes. "Let me prove to you that Order is not the ultimate force of the Universe. I play the magic card…. _Chaos Scepter Blast_!"

Dartz's eyes shot open. "IMPOSSIBLE! I CANNOT BE DEFEATED BY A MERE CHILD!"

Kaiba eyes had gone wide. "The kid… He's done it!"

"By sacrificing a spell card on my field, all spellcasters on my field with Chaos in their name can attack your life-points directly," smirked Kyle. "So much for a mere child." The Sorcerer of Dark Magic closed his eyes, and the Dark Magician of Chaos raised his staff.

"_Defeat the duelist… Not the monster_," thought Kaiba quietly to himself, as he stared at the tense silence in awe.

"DARK MAGICIAN OF CHAOS!" roared Kyle. "CHAOS SCEPTER BLAST! JUST END THIS NOW AND FOREVER!"

Twirling his staff, the black armored mage struck fired a black sphere of energy straight for Dartz. It slammed into the ground, and cut a small path through the floor as it streaked towards the Atlantian. "WHY?" he screamed as the blast bypassed the Great Leviathan's head, and headed straight for him.

"Because you piss me off," said Kyle calmly as the attack struck Dartz full on. He screamed in pain as the attack knocked him off his feet. He landed flat on his back, his chest smoking.

"Thank you, Dark Magician of Chaos," whispered the spellcaster duelist.

(Kaiba: 5950, Kyle: 2300, Dartz: 0)

"It's over…. It's finally over," said Kaiba softly, staring at Dartz's prone form. The Seal began to contract around him, as the Leviathan roared. But even the mighty god of darkness was bound by the rules of a simple, modern-day card game. It was barely able to growl once more before it disappeared, leaving a hole in the wall nonetheless.

Dartz didn't even regain consciousness as the Seal took him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami stared in awe as the mighty Orichalcos God disappeared. "Such power…." he whispered. The Dark Magician of Chaos nodded at Kyle, who gave him a tired smile, before his monster disappeared, along with the Dark Magician. The ancient Pharaoh had never expected the duo to prevail against the mighty emperor.

He walked in, and his eyes met Kyle's. Before they could say a word, it was Kaiba who spoke. "Something's not right… We beat Dartz, and you beat Anubis. We should be able to free everyone's souls."

At that second, Yami heard a cackle that felt his skin grow cold. "Marik…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Mwuhahahhahaha…. Wait it out! The duel against Dartz lasted one hundred and nineteen turns, for those who are interested. The next chapter is called 'Bleed It Out' and it will have little to no dueling, just explanations. Just wait till what comes after that… Anyway, REVIEW!!**


	43. Bleed It Out

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: Bleed It Out

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: Bleed It Out

**Here's the prelude to something you people are never going to forget. Just tying up all the lose ends before the epic end of Yu-Gi-Oh! Advent of Power.**

**Appollyon151****: Sorry, I didn't get to this last chapter. First I'd like to thank you for your compliments. Since you posted that, I'll get to telling you what you did right, and what you did wrong.**

**Pros: Well, you seem to like epic battle scenes. That's always a good thing when writing YGO. Also, the idea of a dueling dojo is decent, if a bit clichéd. (Does DA ring any bells?)**

**Cons: Sorry, but there are quite a few here. You wanted me to be honest with you, so I will. The punctuation is bad. When you're writing a story, you have to make sure your spelling and grammar are accurate. Use the spell check on Word. Plus, there are a few strange inconsistencies in the battle. A huge army gathered, and then the bad guy attacks them. A few left. Suddenly, a huge army again. See what I mean? Plus, the plotline of someone getting the Puzzle, is horribly clichéd, and you must change that. Yami is supposed to be Yugi's dark side, and no one else's.**

**Overall: No offense, but you need to improve on certain things. I can see the effort, though. I started off pretty shaky, but I think I've gotten better. No reason you can't do the same.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Broly? Didn't think of that. But it's true. Marik hates Yami, and Broly hates Goku. As for hairstyles, most anime guys with spiky hair look like that. I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Dilip Tomar: Thanks for all the compliments. The idea of the dark gods can be implemented in your fic in the form of the Legendary Demons from GX, or the Wicked Gods from R.**

**Mystralwind: No one else is free, as you will see. **

A dark figure was silhouetted in the shadows around them. "Marik…" The true impact of that utterance was lost to the negativity of the air around them. It seemed impossible for such a thing to happen… But then again, this was a creature of pure shadows, and they were in the Tournament of Shadows.

The shadows shifted a bit, and the figure's features were revealed. Kaiba grimaced, as did Yami. Kyle, however, had never seen this horrible person before, and was completely frozen by the cruel smile that hung off the features of the Dark Spirit of Egypt, Marik Ishtar. It was the smile that he normally wore when he was up to something that would generally screw up people's lives.

"In a manner of speaking, I am Marik. Of course, you needn't know my true name from the past…" The villain spoke in a raspy voice.

"But…. How? I saw your face on the Orichalcos stone!" snapped Yami. Seto was at a loss for words, unable to express his shock and desire not to believe what had happened. Kyle stood silently, a look of absolute terror in his young eyes. Dartz was one thing, but this man was the evil incarnate.

"It is, to tell you the truth, an extremely long story," began Marik, his spiky hair waving in the darkness. "Believe me when I say it is a story that's been five thousand years in the making," he sneered. "Or do you not remember that…. Oh my Pharaoh?"

Yami frowned at the sarcasm. He knew that he couldn't afford for this to come down to a battle of Shadow magic. In his drained state, he wouldn't last ten seconds against the reborn tyrant whose presence seemed to fill up the entire room.

"Do you think that I would allow myself to fall prey to Dartz's pathetic Orichalcos magic?" sneered Marik, folding his arms. "I will admit that had my soul been taken by the Seal had it not been for a plan I had devised some time ago. The entire point of the Tournament of Shadows depended on my not underestimating Dartz's ambition, which led him to betray me."

Yami placed a hand on his shoulder, and slowly massaged a bruise that he had sustained from one of the many attacks he had been hit with on that day. "What do you mean?" he said vehemently.

"All in good time, all in good time," said Marik as he raised his hands, one of them clutching the Millennium Rod. This caused Kaiba to involuntarily twitch. Marik noticed the body language, and his mouth twisted into an unpleasant scowl.

"Ah yes…. I forgot about you, Kaiba, and your little connection to the Rod. I find it maddeningly interesting that we both have a strange link to this item. In the grand scheme of things, it may seem mundane, but otherwise…" He trailed off, and tossed the golden rod up into the air. The eyes of everyone in the room followed it, except for Marik himself. His eyes were fixed on his three nemesis's. Without looking up, he stretched out his arm and caught it.

"Now," he began slowly. "To business."

"I would destroy you all right here and now, but I feel I owe you a bit of an explanation." Yami narrowed his eyes. "Get on with it."

"Let me take you back five thousand years…. Pharaoh," began Marik. "To the slaughter of Kul Elna."

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_Kul Elna was ablaze. Every single cottage was on fire, and people were running about, screaming in terror. Men were cut down by large men dressed in armor, but not fatally. Women and children were bound and gagged with simple ease, and dragged behind a caravan of mules. The entire village would very soon cease to exist._

_The only two survivors were to be two, young boys. But they had nothing in common. _

_The first one was simply called Bakura, later on to be known as the Thief King. His was a tragic tale, a tale of betrayal, horror and death. His parents had been killed by the monarchy that they admired, leaving him to escape the genocidal army of the Pharaoh by himself. He did so, albeit barely. For days, weeks, months, he rotted in the desert. He did end up coming very close to avenging his family, but his is a different story._

_The other story is that of a creature unlike any the world had seen before. A beast that killed without remorse, without guilt. His real name was long lost, but he is known to some as Marik._

_His past is shady, and nothing is known of his family. What is known, however, is that he mercilessly killed five soldiers of the Egyptian Army, and went on to steal their armor, horse, and supplies. He rode off into the desert, with a plan to cement his name in the history of Egypt. Upon reaching Cairo, he learned of Shadow Magic. He found himself blessed with small amounts of it, but not enough to combat the Pharaoh. He lived on in Cairo, until a time when the Pharaoh was old and ailing. It was then that he made his move._

_The Guardian Sectemon wielded the Millennium Rod, and was very distressed by his Pharaoh's poor health. In a state of weariness, he was controlled by Marik. By combining his own growing power with that of the Rod, as well as that of Sectemon, Marik created an item known only as the Pyramid of Light._

_When the Pharaoh passed on, his son Yami took the throne of Egypt. Eager for an opportunity to put his plan for supreme power into action, Marik went to one of the Guardians, Aknadin. Taking control of his mind, he forced him to deliver the Pyramid of Light to another one of Marik's allies: Anubis. The heathen demon was a servant of Aknadin, but possessed a great amount of Shadow Magic. He was soon thought to be the death incarnate._

_Anubis and Marik began their war on Egypt. It was to be a war that the world would not forget_.

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"As you are aware," continued Marik, "You fought Anubis and you were able to defeat him, albeit barely. The battle, however, was instrumental in my plans. Using Shadow Magic, I curbed his true might and split him into the three dark Egyptian gods. Now I had three amazingly powerful Ka at my disposal. It was time to put my plan into action."

Yami glanced over at Kyle, who was leaning against the wall. His breath was becoming more and more ragged by the second. His body wasn't very used to so much punishment. Yami could stall, but there was no help coming. Kaiba, Kyle, and himself were the only ones remaining standing.

In an effort to distract Marik from the exhausted teenager, Yami sneered, "And what was that? Attack an old man?"

"Ah yes…. Shimon. He came later. First was the assault on Cairo."

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_In the age of 3000 BC, Cairo was among the most prosperous cities on Earth. Its people were always busy, and that day seemed to be naught but another day in the life of a citizen of that great city._

_But it was not to be so. _

_Two guards stood at the palace gate. Hassan, and Seti. The two had been trained by the Pharaoh's Guardians in minor Shadow Magic, enough for them to detect any disturbance in the area. Hassan's hand was lax on his spear, but suddenly his brow tightened and he squeezed his weapon._

"_Seti… Something is here." He spoke softly, so as not to cause unrest among the many traders and customers outside the palace. Seti grimaced, and nodded. "I can feel it too. It is perhaps the darkest power I have ever felt. There is no way we could match such a heathen."_

"_It is getting closer," whispered Hassan._

"_Go for help. I will hold it off. Only the Guardians will be able to battle such a monstrosity." There eyes locked, and Hassan bowed before running into the castle._

_Seti tightened his grip on his spear as a young man walked up to him. The guard's eyes widened upon seeing him. He was about five foot eight, with incredibly spiky hair. He wore a purple robe, underneath which was bronze armor. His eyes were the image of madness, and various veins were prominent._

"_What heathen are you?" gasped Seti._

"_The heathen that will bring a new age unto this world," whispered the man, and quick as a flash, he had raised his hand and fired out a blast of black energy at the guard._

_The area broke into chaos. People on all sides began running away in terror. But the man did not seem to care. He only focused on Seti, who had been quick enough to dodge. Running towards the assailant, he slammed his spear into his gut. A satisfied smirk appeared on his face, and disappeared the next instant._

_The man had been able to catch the spear in to of his fingers. With a sneer, he sent a pulse of energy through it, shattering the weapon and burning Seti's hands. Ignoring the pain, Seti pulled a dagger from his waist and attempted to attack the man. _

"_You bore me," complained the spiky haired fellow, and another blast of Shadow Magic hit Seti's gut, knocking him off his feet. It didn't hurt too much, but the force was devastating. The impact with which he hit the ground injured his spinal cord. If he didn't receive medical attention within the next few minutes, Seti would be meeting his ancestors._

_His attacker loomed over him, a scowl on his face. "I'll be your guide for tonight's trip to Hell. Call me Grave… Or on second thought's, call me Marik." Just as he was about to blast the poor man with a final attack, a voice screamed out, "DO NOT KILL HIM!"_

_Marik looked up, only to see a group of five men and one woman standing in the middle of the gates. All were dressed in similar white robes, and all carried items forged of gold. They were all glaring at him with righteous anger._

"_Ah, the slaves of the Pharaoh," sneered the villainous man. The tallest of them, Seto, bent down to check the guard's pulse. "He's alive, but barely," he said to his allies. He spoke to the only woman, Isis. "Take him back to the palace, and heal him. You will need to join us in battling this infidel."_

_Isis nodded, and carefully levitated Seti up with Shadow Magic. She slowly carried him through the gates, while the remaining five covered her. "So, you intend to battle me!" boomed Marik. "Very well then… Let us not waste time."_

"_Do not waste power," warned Seto. "He is very powerful, so summon your mightiest creatures."_

"_I intend to," snarled a muscular man, who went by the name of Karim. "I will call upon my Curse of Dragon!" Coming roaring out of the sand was a yellow dragon with a massive set of wings, powerful claws, and a strange claw coming out of its nose. The dragon landed in front of Karim and snarled at its master's enemy._

"_Summoned Skull, come forth," intoned a bearded man who was called Aknadin. __Thunder crashed in the sky as the weather started to turn a little stormy. From the midst of the lightning storm emerged a bony fiend with a muscular-looking exoskeleton, with lightning coursing throughout its whole body._

"_Beast of Talwar, lend me your strength," bellowed the balding Guardian, Shada. The muscular demon with dark-green skin and four arms, each of which carried a deadly sword, rose up from out of the sand of the desert. Its dark-red eyes narrowed angrily as it glared at Marik. _

"_I choose the Illusion Magician to combat this threat," said one of the Pharaoh's oldest friends, Mahad. A wizard very similar to the Dark Magician, only without a face, appeared above Mahad and twirled its staff around._

"_Judge Man, arise!" A huge, hulking orge dressed in the official clothing of a judge, wielding two huge blue gavels that looked like spiked clubs upon closer inspection__rose out of the sand._

"_Impressive," mused the evil man. "But can your creatures combat the demonic power of Thenein the Great Sphinx?!" _

_There was a small shake, which caused the Guardian's to stumble. Shadows were coalescing from all over the place. The point of accumulation was beginning to take shape. Soon, the shadows disappeared to reveal a new creature. A terrible monster appeared, with a torso up was made up of a blonde haired sphinx, but on his back was a female sphinx. Below his torso, the sphinx had the female sphinx's body. It had two large, golden wings._

"_That beast must be as tall as our palace!" shouted Mahad in dismay._

"_And it could level that pile of rocks if I ordered it to," sneered Marik. "But that will come in due time. Thenein, show these fanatics who the true Shadow creature is with Rage of the Sphinx! Attack the Curse of Dragon!"_

_Karim's eyes shot open in shock, but he maintained his decorum, and called out. "Counter attack with Demon Flame!" The sphinx roared, and lashed out with its massive fist. The dragon took to the air, and was barely able to dodge the attack, which had left a hole in the ground the size of a table._

_The dragon screeched, and let lose a burst of flames. At the same time, the other Guardians commanded their monsters to attack._

_It seemed to happen all at once. The Judge Man roared and charged forward, slamming its clubs into the monsters leg. The sphinx roared in pain and raised one of its feet in an attempt to stomp down on the ogre, but it was barely able to finish the motion before it was struck by a bolt of lightning. Aknadin smirked in satisfaction at the effort of his Summoned Skull._

_But Thenein was far from done. Once again the Curse of Dragon and Summoned Skull attacked at once. But the sphinx was ready. It lashed out with its fist, punching straight through the flames and mortally wounding the yellow dragon. Karim screamed in pain and clutched his chest as the dragon fell from the sky. It disappeared before it could hit the sand._

_Then the Summoned Skull let lose another lightning bolt, and the Judge Man backed off while the Beast of Talwar and Illusive Magician began their assault. The green demon's blades scythed through the heavy air as they buried themselves in the sphinx's leg. The magician fired a sphere of black energy at its opponent, and the Summoned Skull followed it up with a lighting blast._

_But the sphinx was able to combat its attackers with laughable ease. The three watched in terror as it punched away the blast of lightning, which scythed back towards its source, which was blown to pieces. Aknadin collapsed in pain._

"_Damn it… We need Isis here," snarled Seto, even as his Judge Man dodged attack after attack. "At this rate, the pain will cause Aknadin and Karim to go into shock. Shada, Mahad! We need to end this now. Co-ordinate a joint attack."_

_The other two nodded. Upon their command, the purple magician let lose a sphere of dark energy, and attack lanced towards the towering sphinx, and at the same time, the demonic judge roared and hefted up its clubs. Along with the green demon, he charged the creature of pure darkness, and they slammed their weapons into its legs at the same time. The Illusion Magician's magical blast hit its chest at the same time. For a second, it seemed like it was over and the Guardians had won._

_But it was not be so. With a roar, the sphinx began to glow. Without warning, it let lose a wave of power from its body. It slammed into the two demons, as well as the magicians. The three humanoids screamed in pain as the dark power tore apart the very essence of their souls._

_Mahad and Shada screamed in pain before falling into unconscious. Seto was on his knees, hand clutching his chest. He tried to get ignore the pain, knowing that he would soon lose consciousness as well if he was unable to deal with the agony. _

"_So the High Priest of the Pharaoh falls," sneered Marik, even as Seto looked up at the towering sphinx._

"_NO!" screamed Seto, the instigation giving him new resolve. He stood up, and threw off his cloak. "I bow to no one! COME OUT, MY THREE BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGONS!"_

_Three powerful white metallic dragons with sharp fangs, claws, and strong wings appeared around Seto. Each dragon roared loudly, showing they were a power to reckon with. Seto grunted, knowing that his power was evaporating faster and faster._

_The three dragons roared at Thenein, who simply growled, silencing them. This was proof enough of the fact that even all three of them wouldn't be enough to face the might of Marik's ultimate beast._

_But Seto wasn't done yet. "Face my ultimate monster!" he roared. "Blue-Eyes White Dragons, merge together now to form the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"_

_Focusing on his power, Seto began sending out more of his Shadow Magic to the three large metallic dragons. Each roared loudly and began glowing. The glowing soon became extremely bright to the point no one could see what was going on. As the glow died, a large three headed white metallic looking dragon appeared in the place of the three dragons. The three massive heads roared loudly, sending shockwaves through the sky._

_Marik was impressed. "This might actually match Thenein."_

"_Match it? Your sphinx will be destroyed! Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, end this with Neutron Blast!" The three dragon heads filled with white energy. Soon, they released a stream of powerful white energy in combination with each other, and the three attacks formed a single blast of pure power. The attack plummeted towards Thenein, who roared and slammed his fist into the attack._

_Seto roared in frustration as the three-headed wyvern began to falter immediately. His power had been drained by the destruction of his Judge Man, and the new summoning of his Ultimate Dragon. But he had to win._

_Try as he might, his dragon was failing. Thenein had begun to push the blast back, driving it back to the Blue Eyes itself. _

"_I WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU, HEATHEN!" screamed Seto. This gave him new determination, and with a roar of anger, he let out all his energy into the attack. The blast quadrupled in size, and try as the sphinx might, it could not stop its inevitable demise._

_The blast plummeted towards Thenein, who roared in shock as it vaporized its entire arm and then slammed into its chest. It screeched in pain as the dragon flapped its wings harder, attempting to destroy its unholy adversary for good._

"_END IT NOW!" The dragon did just that. It gave a final roar before it was atomized by the attack, and the unholy darkness that made it up returned to the Shadow Realm. There was a minor explosion caused by the attack, and a cloud of smoke engulfed the entire area._

_Seto was on his knees once again, completely drained. He wouldn't have been able to get up if he wanted to. "It's over…"_

"_Not quite," said a sarcastic voice from within the clearing smoke. Seto looked up in horror to see that Marik was still standing. He did not look at all tired, and even though his monster was gone he was in no pain. _

"I put all my power into that attack," _thought Seto in shock_. "And his monstrosity was obliterated and he seems unaffected…. What kind of demon is he? I can only hope the Pharaoh is up to the challenge." _Glancing back at the palace, he grimaced_. "Kisara…. Forgive me."

"_Mildly impressed, I am," said Marik. "Destroying Thenein is no mean feat, but of course, I will prevail in the end. What should I summon next… Hmm, I think that the Masked Beast Des Gardius will do perfectly!" A windstorm began, blowing sand into the air. The particles coalesced together to form a figure, which gained color. Seto could barely stand the sight of the hellish creature._

_It had __two huge, blue ones with bone-like armor covering its knees. It had a muscular torso and three faces, each of which were covered in blue masks with different expressions on their faces. It also had deadly-looking claws on its hands that seemed able to slash even through steel. It roared in anger at Seto, who found himself paralyzed._

"_Now to end you before I kill the Pharaoh," sneered Marik, raising his arm. "Masked Beast Des Gardius… Demonic Death Claws!" _

_Masked Beast Des Gardius lunged at the fallen priest, and was about to bury its horrible claws in his back, skewering him, when a black sphere of energy crashed into its stomach. The attack wasn't enough to destroy it, but it knocked the unholy creature away from Seto. The power of the blast was enough to cause Marik to grunt._

_He turned to the palace gates to see the Pharaoh Yami standing tall and proud, flanked on one side by his Dark Magician, and on the other by the Guardian Isis._

"_Isis," he murmured. "Take them in and heal them. When you are done, prepare for a siege in case I am not able to defeat him."_

_Isis shook her head. "No, Pharaoh! I will stand by you and fight this heretic!"_

"_I SAID GO!" roared Yami angrily, turning to glare at her. Isis' fist tightened, and Yami noticed this. Sighing, he spoke quietly. "Please Isis. Egypt will need the Guardians in case I fall."_

_Isis closed her eyes for a second, and nodded. "Very well." Levitating the five bodies with Shadow Magic, she looked at her Pharaoh one last time before whispering, "Be careful, my Pharaoh," and slowly taking the bodies back in._

_This left Yami and Marik standing in the open. The first was furious, and glared at his opponent with pure hatred._

_The latter was relaxed, and did not seem worried that he was up against he who was said to be the most powerful wielder of Shadow Magic in Egypt and the one who controlled the might of the three legendary Egyptian Gods. "Hello, Pharaoh," he said pleasantly. Yami snarled back, "What do you want? Under what pretense do you come to my palace and attack my Guardians?!"_

_Marik paused for a second. "Let's just say I don't like your Guardians. I don't like you either, Pharaoh. This means that you are in trouble. Demonic Death Claws!"_

_Once again, the fiend lunged towards its target. The Dark Magician's brow was creased in concentration as it took to the air in an effort to dodge the thrust. A burst of energy left its claws and blew a hole through a wall. The mage landed neatly on the other side of the hellish demon._

_Yami frowned. His Dark Magician would not be able to combat this threat all by itself. He would supplement it with what was possibly one of his most powerful Shadow creatures after the gods themselves. "Come out… Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning!" _

_Emerging from the sand was a warrior in __black ebony shiny armor with a mixture of gold trim, a black helmet, with a bronze colored sword in his right hand and a powerful black and gold shield in his left let out a small battle cry._

"_Destroy his monster with Creation Blade!" _

_Aiming his shield at the towering fiend, the powerful soldier's shield began to glow golden. After a moment of gathering energy, the shield released a burst of golden energy. The blast struck the fiend, causing it to growl in pain. The soldier was upon it immediately, and lashed out with its massive blade. The sword cut into its grotesque body, and even though it was an enormous effort, the deadly soldier cut through the entire monster. The two pieces hung in mid-air for a second, before disappearing._

_Marik frowned a bit in annoyance, but he didn't seem very affected._

"_You seem to not want to waste time… Very well. Come out now, my dark god, Ragnarok Dragon!" _

_Suddenly, the sun blacked out, as Marik began to chant in an archaic tongue. The world was left with very any light, as the people of Egypt began to scream in terror, wondering what sort of necromancy had caused their sun to lose its light. _

_Yami clutched his head as terrible sounds rung out through his head. Screams of pain, roars of otherworldly beasts… Was this what Apocalypse was like?_

_There was a roar. It sounded like it was coming from a time before anything had begun. It was a sound that was coming from a time before Creation. Shadows began to coalesce together and form body parts. Yami watched in horror as the monster finally formed. In an explosion of light, it gained color._

_The god was a two hundred and fifty foot long beast. Its sinuous neck snaked out from massive shoulders, with a house-sized head nestled on the neck. Its wings were so large that when they stretched out, it was as if the world was thrown into darkness. Titanic spikes started between its eyes, and continued on to the very tip of its tail. The dragon was golden and blood-red in color, with evil eyes. The hellish maw opened. A roar so loud thundered out that the entire world seemed to shake._

"_Dark god…" whispered Yami._

"_A piece of Anubis," sneered Marik. "The fool was under my control all along. I suppressed his power so that I could keep him under me, but it was not possible to do so indefinitely. So, I split his essence into three dark entities when you defeated him. One of them is my Ragnarok Dragon. Now, he will show you that the power of darkness will conquer all. Darkness Divinity Blast!"_

_The titanic dragon threw back its head, and a multi-colored orb that reflected a thousand faucets of light began to appear in its mouth. With a roar, it let out the blast in full force. The warrior and magician could not even hope to dodge the attack as it hit them full on. A dome of black energy formed around them as the two screamed in pain, along with their owner. Suddenly, the dome exploded and they shattered into pieces. Yami fell to his knees, gasping in pain and shock. He knew he had to deal with it if he was to face this heathen._

"_If… That's the way… You want to play it… Then fine! I summon you, Slifer the Sky Dragon!"_

_His Millennium Puzzle started to give off a blinding light as he finished the prayer. Lightning crashed in the sky, and the clouds started to become dark and angry..._

_A roar that sounded even louder than the amassing lightning could be heard as a huge shape descended from the black clouds. The Ragnarok Dragon, however, was not impressed_

_The huge form descending from the sky was slowly revealed as Slifer the Sky Dragon itself. Its magnificently-gleaming red hide, its two draconic mouths, a bright-blue orb engraved into its forehead, its long serpentine body slithering around in the sky...every exact detail was there._

_The dark god roared at its counterpart, who screeched back. Marik and Yami locked eyes. "Very well… Yami… Let the battle of the gods commence!"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami's eyes widened in shock. "That… That thing was a dark god?" "Yes," sneered Marik. "I don't think you need to guess what happened next, so let's jump forward in time by five millennia, shall we? I think that you'd like to see what happened to my light side."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Marik Ishtar's eyes widened. "The Millennium Rod… But how?" No answer came from the empty room surrounding him. The Rod began to glow._

"_SISTER!" he screamed in horror. He backed away towards the door, but was blocked by a tendril of darkness that had erupted out of the ground. More tendrils appeared out of nowhere as dark fog began to roll in. They wrapped around his limbs, leaving him suspended in mid-air, and pleading for death to come and take him away from this terrifying situation._

_A translucent figure appeared. One that Marik recognized all too well……_

"_YOU!" he screamed in a combination of hatred, rage, and most of all, fear. _

"_Me," said Yami Marik calmly. "But… But I destroyed you! This is not possible! You were lost to the Shadow Realm when I surrendered the duel to the Pharaoh." _

_His dark side sneered inwardly. "Well, let's just say everything is not as you thought it was. Until then, I will enjoy having a solid body when I take my vengeance on the Pharaoh." Marik's screams of pain and terror were blocked by the darkness…_

_Five minutes later, the darkness was gone, and the door to the bedroom opened. The man who had inhabited the room walked out, a smile on his face. Indeed, there was never a better day to be Yami no Marik._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You… You sick freak!" screamed Yami. "Do you have any idea how much pain Marik must have gone through when you took over his body by force? Have you no care for human life?" He said these words even though he already knew the answer.

Marik shook his head in annoyance. "Idiot… Yes, he was caused a lot of pain when I took control of his body. And yes, once again, I don't care about human life."

There was a moment of silence, which was broken by Kaiba.

"What about Yugi's grandfather? And how did you cheat the Seal of Orichalcos?"

Marik sighed and shook his head. "Fine. These are the last two questions before I crush you all utterly. Enjoy the last moments of your life. They are sure to be unpleasant ones. For the old man… It happened before I visited Pegasus' dear protégé…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Solomon sighed as he bent down to lift up a box of booster packs. He was getting too old for this. Already, he was seventy-seven... He was still considered to be one of the best duelists in the country. In his younger days, he had won a number of tournaments, going on to become the Japanese National Champion, until he had adopted his grandson, Yugi. He had settled down as a Game Shop owner then._

_Still, he longed to go on one last tournament. He had discussed it with Yugi, who had been planning on returning from Egypt and settling down in Domino for a couple of years at least. Yugi would take care of the shop while Solomon would sign up for the American National Championship, which was scheduled to take place on a cruise liner that would go from New York to London, and then back._

_At first, Yugi was apprehensive about the old man dueling once again, but to show his grandson that he had plenty of endurance left in his old bones, he challenged him to a duel._

_Yugi had been expecting the Ancient deck that he had used against Joey in the KC Grand Championship, but instead found himself against a deadly warrior deck. Solomon succeeded in summoning Gilford the Legend with its attack points set at forty-nine hundred, and Yugi was able to pull a last ditch win by summoning a Dark Magician Knight. But Yugi had agreed that the elderly duelist was far from ailing, with a good chance of winning the American National Championship. _

_He dusted his hands off. That was enough for today. He would settle down with a drink and play some solitaire._

_As he was about to lock the store door, someone stopped him. "Sorry, we're closing," he said, without looking up._

"_I'm afraid my business cannot wait," said a deep voice. Without warning, the intruder pushed, causing the old man to stumble. "If you're a thief, then you must know that this is a game shop, and I haven't had a customer all day…"_

_The man revealed himself. "YOU!" gasped Solomon. "You're Marik Ishtar, from the Battle City finals."_

_Marik nodded. "You catch on quickly, old man. Now, I'll make this quick. Either you submit to my control willingly, or me go to plan two."_

_Solomon narrowed his eyes. This was a psychopath whose threats were not be taken lightly. "What is plan two?"_

"_I take control of your mind anyway." There was silence, which was broken by Solomon. "How about we duel? You claim to be a powerful duelist. If you lose to me, then I don't think you deserve to control my mind. Initiate a Shadow Game. Your Penalty Game will be utter destruction."_

_Marik snorted. "Very well. Yours will be complete obedience, old man." Darkness began to appear out of thin air. Solomon did not say a word as he picked up a Duel Disk before slipping it on to his shoulder. One last duel for the road…_

_The two activated their Disks, and drew their opening hands._

"_LET'S DUEL!"_

_(Solomon: 8000, Marik: 8000)_

"_I will call upon my Marauding Captain (1200/400) in attack mode!" growled Solomon. __A man with sandy blonde hair and grey shiny armor covering all his body but his head appeared on the field. On each of his sides was a sword in their sheaths. He had a cape on his back which was black with red on the inside._

"_Its effect allows me to special summon a level four or lower monster from my hand. I choose my Command Knight (1200/1900)!" __A blonde headed young warrior with red armor then appeared beside of the older captain. This knight wore a black cape as well, with a reddish hat of some kind, gloves, and a sword at his side in it's sheath._

"_Command Knight as a very special ability as well. As long as he's on the field, all my warrior type monsters gain 400 attack points, meaning my captain and knight both gain points now (1600/400) (1600/1900)." The knight seemed to glow for a moment, causing the captain to glow as well as their strength increased._

"_How pathetic!" sneered Marik. "All you have is a pair of monsters with sixteen hundred attack points."_

"_Really? Just because I'm old doesn't meant I'm senile. I add Allied Forces, granting all warriors two hundred attack points for all other warriors and spellcasters on the field!" The two monsters glowed once more as they gained strength and hope from each other's presence (2000/400) (2000/1900)._

"_I end my turn," said Solomon confidently._

_Marik looked almost bored as he drew. "Do you think those pathetic excuses for warriors can defeat me? I play Gene-Warped Warwolf (2000/100)!" __A massive wolf appeared. It was on two legs, and had blazing red eyes. It was covered in heavy armor._

"_Next I play Graceful Charity…" He drew three cards and discarded two at the same time. "I now play Quick Summon, sacrificing Gene-Warped Warwolf for the mighty Jinzo (2400/1500)!"_

_The spirit angel then disappeared in a small flash of light as the powerful cyborg in green and black appeared in her place. As he traditionally done, the cyborg then crossed his arms in front of himself. He stared at Solomon with blank eyes._

"_Then I play Renewal of Triplets! When I have three monsters with the same name in my graveyard, all three are special summoned to the field. Since I discarded two other Warwolves, I can bring back all three!" Three identical, bipedal wolves appeared, dressed in armor. They roared at Solomon's monsters. The old duelist frowned._

"_I'm not done yet. Go, Delta Attacker! When there are three normal monsters with the same name on my field, all three can attack you directly. Since my Warwolves are all normal monsters, powerful as they are…" Marik left the sentence hanging as Solomon braced himself._

_It hurt more than the elderly man expected. The three wolves slammed into him one after the other, slashing at him with their deadly claws. He was able to withstand them without falling over, but the assault left his gasping for pain. It was all he could do to stop himself from losing consciousness._

_(Solomon: 2000, Marik: 8000)_

"_My first turn, and I'm already six thousand life-points ahead. I did expect better," sneered Marik, raising his hand. "Jinzo, destroy his pathetic Marauding Captain with Cyber Energy Shock!" _

_The android nodded, and slammed its palms together. It charged up a ball of swirling energy. With a hiss, it launched the attack at the warrior, who attempted to slice it in half with its sword. But it was to no avail, for the captain was completely atomized by the attack._

_(Solomon: 1600, Marik: 8000)_

"_End turn," chuckled Marik. He was enjoying this._

_Solomon was in incredible pain. He had never felt anything like this. It was as if someone had set fire to the very blood that flowed threw his veins. He struggled to draw his next card, and was just able to slide it off the top of his deck._

"_I… I play Lightning Vortex." He discarded one of his three remaining cards as a bolt of lightning descended from the air and slammed into the three Warwolves and deadly cyborg. "Then… I sacrifice Command Knight for Freed the Matchless General (2300/1700)." _

_A tall blonde warrior in shining armor now stood next to Solomon, but instead of a hammer this warrior had a sword in hand. He had long hair and a beard, and a small band covered his forehead. He stared at Marik with deep hatred in his eyes._

"_Attack…" His eyes widened as the warrior charged forward only to be blocked by a wall of furballs. "Kuriboh (300/200)," chuckled Marik. "Always a useful monster."_

"_End… End turn."_

_Marik snapped the top card off his deck. "I play Change of Heart, in order to take your Freed!" The warrior shook his head in adamancy as he was pulled over to Marik's field. He closed his eyes, and his clenched fist suggested an inner struggle. When his eyes opened, he was looking imperiously at Solomon._

_The old man's heart picked up pace. "No…"_

"_Destroy him!" Freed rushed over to Solomon, drawing his sword at the same time. With a roar of rebelliousness, he slammed his blade into his former master's chest. The force of the blow, backed by the Shadow Realm, left a sizable wound in Solomon's chest. But luckily for him, he had passed out before the pain hit him._

_(Solomon: 0, Marik: 8000)_

"_That's game," chuckled Marik, as the shadows began to disappear._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami could feel Yugi's hatred and sadness as Marik finished. He felt a tear roll down his cheek before he angrily wiped it off. He was not sure if it was his hikari's….. Or his own. "You pathetic freak!" he spat in pure hatred and anger. "He was… He was such an old man! How could you hurt him like that?"

Marik faked a yawn. "I'm not going to bother answering that question, because I know you're only asking it to irritate me. Remember: Ask such a stupid question again and I will cause you pain beyond anything you have ever felt. Now, I believe you wanted to know how I fooled the Orichalcos?"

Yami only glared in response. He could feel Kaiba and Kyle's indignance as well.

Marik snatched out a piece of sandstone from inside his robes. He held it up to their eyes. "Does this face look familiar?" Yami blanched, as did Kaiba. Kyle remained oblivious.

"M-M-…_Marik_?!" gasped Yami. "_Of course,"_ he thought, his mind spinning. "_It was so obvious_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Yami didn't say a word as the attack of Guardian Eatos slammed into his Catapult Turtle. But he could feel it all, regret, sadness, and most of all, hate. To himself._

_He saw the Seal contracting around him, but he didn't acknowledge it. Suddenly, he felt someone's hands push him away. He turned to see the smiling face and innocent eyes of his hikari within the Seal. "It only needs one of us._"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You… You forced the real Marik in and opted out yourself?" gasped Yami.

"Of course," noddedthe horrible fiend who had created this Tournament of Shadows. "I did so because that would leave Dartz, Anubis and Kagemaru with all the work. I would only face the final survivor. Genius, isn't it? In fact, I'll show it to you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_The Divine Serpent's attack slammed into the Ragnarok Dragon, leaving it roaring in pain as the negative energy began to cause its body to burn._

_Marik was sure that he had done an excellent job of acting angry and vengeful. In the smoke and light, there was no way that Dartz would see his next move. His pathetic light side was hovering next to him in spirit form. He reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him into the Seal._

_Their eyes locked for a second. "Why?" It was all the unfortunate man could ask. _

"_The strong survive and the weak perish," was the cold answer that his yami gave him. "Have a nice time in Hell." _

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yami didn't say a word. He was too exhausted, even though there was plenty he would have liked to say.

"Now, enough talk," chuckled Marik. A Duel Disk appeared on his arm. "If I am to win the Tournament of Shadows, I will have to win a duel. Which one of you shall fall victim to my new deck? I'll have you know, the one I've used up until now is much weaker than the true force of the deck that is closest to my very being…." He paused dramatically.

"Or shall I face all three of you at once?"

Yami considered. It was a good idea, but he didn't like the way Marik suggested it. Even in their weakened conditions, three on one was sure to suffice, even against the likes of Marik. Was it possible that Marik's deck had cards that benefited from having multiple opponents?

"No," spat Yami, struggling upright. "I'll duel you." "You, duel me?" Marik scoffed. "Look at you. You dueled Arkana, Solomon, and then Anubis. There is absolutely no way you are going to last even three turns against me. I'd at least like the finals of the Tournament of Shadows to be a challenge."

Kaiba stood up. "Let it be," he gasped. "I'll take him on."

Yami shook his head. "After dueling both Bakura and Kagemaru, then the Dead Duelists, and then this incredibly long duel against Dartz? You'd stand less of a chance than me. And no, Kyle," finished Yami before the teenager could begin to offer. "You can't duel him. Only I have a chance, for the gods are required to combat the dark gods."

There was a moment's silence. "Which is going to duel me?" snarled Marik. "Or shall I choose?"

"Wait!" gasped Kaiba. "Yugi…. Take my energy." He held out his hand. "That Puzzle of yours… There's something special about it. I know it. You're right, you're the only one who can defeat him. Take my damn energy so that you can go on and beat this freak."

Yami's eyes went wide. Was Kaiba really saying this? He looked over at Kyle. The boy's breathing was shallow. It would be cruel to ask him for power. "Very well," he growled, and grasped Kaiba's hand. His Puzzle began to glow as Marik watched, bored. Concentrating all his Shadow powers on the CEO, he began to drain the teenager.

Kaiba's breathing slowed down, as did his heart. Yami broke the link before he took too much. Kaiba collapsed next to Kyle, barely conscious.

Yami, however, felt invigorated. He wasn't back to full strength, but it soothed his aching joints, and banished his exhaustion.

He looked over at Kaiba and Kyle. "Once you are rested, find a way out of here. If I lose, the two of you are the last line of defense. Hopefully, it won't come to that."

"Believe me, Pharaoh, it will," snickered Marik, as he walked out the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The two stood on the terrace, just where Yami had faced Anubis a little while ago. The freezing night air blew in Yami's face. He knew that it was the darkest hour of the night. Some said the darkest hour was right before dawn. If he failed, there was to be no dawn.

"Just how I like it," said Marik. "Just you and me, Pharaoh. Just you and me. None of your friends to cheer you on."

Yami glared. "I will get them all back when I defeat you."

""Defeat me? You can't defeat what you don't understand, and I understand you perfectly. You are going to lose, can't you tell?" sneered Marik, as he activated his Duel Disk. The holo projectors slammed into two corners of the south end of the terrace. Yami followed his example.

"Let the final duel of the Tournament of Shadows commence. Darkness versus Light…. Evil versus Good…."

He smirked at Yami, and pointed at his opponent. His eyes shone for a moment, before the two adversaries locked gazes. "This is it, Pharaoh….."

"_**Yami no Game**_


	44. The Beginning of the End

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: Beginning of the End

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: Beginning of the End

**Mystralwind: Nope…. Bakura's body is too weak. If Ryou returns to it, he'll be in far too much pain to duel.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Hmmm…. The comparison is pretty cool. I never thought of that. I still do wish that Vegeta had been the one to beat Broly…. **

"I will allow you the honor of making the first move in this game," drawled Marik. His posture was completely relaxed. He was in his element: the darkest hour. It was as if he had not a worry in the world.

"Very well," said Yami, drawing his sixth card, and examining them carefully. This was more than a Shadow Game. Every time they summoned a monster, it would take a part of their energy. Even though Kaiba had boosted him, the Pharaoh was nowhere near full strength. On the other hand, Marik had rested for almost a day.

"I call upon Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000)!" Materializing onto the field was a very young mage with light brown eyes and silver hair, dressed in white and blue robes, holding a small white staff.

"Then I set one card facedown and end my turn."

The tension broke as Marik cackled. Yami could feel the slight exertion, but ignored it, preferring to concentrate on Marik's racket. "What a pathetic creature, Pharaoh! And you still have trouble summoning him? Well, you really aren't going to last long at all. Emerge from Hell, Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500)!"

A purple horned fiend appeared on his field. He wore a golden cape glared at Yami, showing a bunch of razor sharp teeth. Suddenly, the Silent Magician began to glow a bit, and its attack points rose (1000 + 500 1500/1000).

"Every time you draw a card, my Silent Magician LV4 gains one spell counter. Each counter boosts his attack points by five hundred," explained Yami. Marik nodded, as if he already knew this. "Do you take me for an amateur? Your mage is still four hundred points weaker than the Archfiend Soldier. Attack with Demon Claw!"

The Archfiend lunged forward, and lashed out with its massive claws. The silver-haired mage squeaked in terror, but Yami intervened. "My defense was ready. I activate Command Silencer, negating your attack and allowing me to draw an extra card." A tall, totem pole blocked the oncoming fiend, and a blast of supersonic sound brought it to its knees. Yami snapped the top card off his deck, increasing his hand size to five.

"Nothing I wouldn't expect, Pharaoh," continued Marik. "I set one card and end my turn."

Yami drew slowly, bringing his hand size back to six. "I call upon my Queen's Knight (1500/1600)!" In a flash, a female warrior with blond hair that fell to her mid-back, dressed in pink armor, except for her legs which were bare, and holding a sword in her left hand and a triangle like shield appeared with a small cry.

"Pathetic," scoffed Marik, as Yami grimaced at the energy it drained from his body. "Both monsters are too weak to face my Archfiend Soldier."

"Oh really? What if I equip my Queen's Knight with the Malevolent Nuzzler, which will boost her attack points by seven hundred!" The blonde knight began to glow as her attack points went up (1500 + 700 2200/1600), putting her at a level of power that was able to obliterate the Archfiend Soldier.

"Attack with Sword of Hearts!" The monster nodded, and lunged towards the Archfiend Soldier. With a scream of exertion, her blade cleaved through the Archfiend Soldier's neck. His head and body remained suspended for a moment before disappearing.

(Yami: 8000, Marik: 7700)

As Yami was about to command his Silent Magician LV4 to go forward and attack Marik, the black-hearted duelist sneered. "I have different plans, Pharaoh. I activate my facedown trap card, Black Soul Summon! By paying five hundred life-points, I can summon one Demonic Soul Token (1000/1000) in defense mode. He cannot be destroyed in battle until the end phase of this turn."

A fiend-like creature appeared, and howled at Yami. It was clad in purple robes, and its claws and fangs were certainly a force to be reckoned with. Its charcoal-like eyes made it look all the more horrible.

"Very well," frowned Yami. "I will set one card facedown and end my turn."

(Yami: 8000, Marik: 7200)

"Good," sneered Marik, as he drew his new card. The Silent Magician LV4 glowed once more as its power went up. Its features were more adult-like, and its eyes showed new resolve (1500 + 500 2000/1000).

"Hmm…. I sacrifice my Demonic Soul Token to call upon the incredible might of the Dark Ruler Ha Des (2450/1600)!" The blue-skinned demon appeared. He was dressed in a dark blue robe, which was covered by heavy purple armor. Instead of a chest plate, there was a large skull. The hellish creature screamed and raised its hand. Infernal flames sprang out of the ground.

The wind picked up a bit at the presence of Ha Des. Yami grimaced as the temperature fell even more.

"_Are you sure you can duel him_?" asked Yugi, concerned.

"_Yes_," replied Yami, shaking it off. "_I'm fine. Don't worry about it_."

"The ruler of the Greek Underworld has arrived, Pharaoh," sneered Marik. "In no way is he the true king of darkness, but I assure you, he is powerful nonetheless. I am sure that you understand my meaning…" He playfully patted his deck. Yami inwardly groaned. The dark gods were in there….. Waiting for him.

"Now, my Dark Ruler Ha Des can obliterate your pathetic Silent Magician!" The fiend roared and slammed its palms together. Blue flames began to gather there, and with a shriek, it let lose the torrent of fire straight in the direction of the teenage magician, who raised his staff in defense.

"I activate Draining Shield! This negates your attack and grants me life-points equal to your monster's attack points!"

In front of the magician instantly appeared a golden shield of energy. The incoming black stream of energy struck it, sending out a gust of wind and a small shock wave while the blast ground against the shield. The golden shield instantly absorbed the black energy stream. Transforming into a golden stream, the stream shot back to Yami's Duel Disk and instantly poured into it before vanishing.

(Yami: 10450, Marik: 7200)

"Not bad," chuckled Marik. "I place a card and end my turn."

"_Something is wrong_," thought Yami. "_He's too calm. Too relaxed. Next turn, he won't be able to destroy my Silent Magician. What is he playing at?_"

"Draw," intoned Yami. He smirked at the next card. "I call out the Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700)!" A mage in black robes with large shoulder pads, a green staff held in two hands, black gloves, a black helmet, and only his face visible appeared.

"All those monsters are too weak to combat the might of my Dark Ruler Ha Des!" sneered Marik. "Really? What if I play Magical Dimension? With this magic card, I'm allowed to sacrifice a monster on my field to special summon a new Spellcaster to my field, so farewell Queen's Knight, and hello Rapid-Fire Magician (1600/1200)!"

Rising up from the ground was a strange statue held up by a box like structure with chains holding it in mid air. The statue soon opened the top half up, sucking in the female soldier. Once the doors to the statue closed, it lightly glowed before opening up once more. Coming out in the knight's place was a mage with long flowing purple hair, a black pair of leather pants, a short sleeved cloak with black flowing cloak, an odd black hat, two black finger cut off gloves, a staff with bird like claws whit a small orb clutched within it, and nine different colored spheres formed an arch around him.

"Thanks to the other effect of my magic card, I can destroy a monster on your field. I choose to obliterate your Dark Ruler Ha Des!" The new mage nodded, and raised his staff. With a swing, he let lose a sphere of black energy at the blue demon, who screamed in pain as the energy exploded against his chest. His scream was cut short by his abrupt disappearance.

At that second, the Skilled Dark Magician glowed slightly, and a button on his shoulder lit up. "Due to the activation of my magic card, he gained a counter. Now, I have fifty-five hundred attack points worth of monsters ready to end your evil once and for all! Attack directly with Rapid Fire Burst, Dark Magic Burst, and Silent Scepter Blast Level Four!"

The new mage raised his staff with bird like claws, and let lose a barrage of fiery energy blasts at the spiky-haired villain. The black robed magician and teenage sorcerer both let lose energy blasts of their own, the former black and the latter white. The three attacks hit Marik at the same time, and there was an explosion.

The smoke was quickly blown away by the strong wind, to reveal Marik unharmed, and his life-points intact.

"What the… What in the name of Ra?" spluttered Yami.

"Very simple, Pharaoh. My facedown Fusion Guard allowed me to send a fusion monster from my fusion deck to the graveyard, in order to reduce all damage to zero. As for which fusion monster it was…. I'll let you wonder." Yami grimaced. "Very well. I end my turn."

"Don't be so glum, Yami," sneered Marik as he drew. "After all, Death has come knocking. I thought a 'brave' Pharaoh such as yourself would open the door, have a drink, and walk out with him like friends? But now I know the truth." He paused.

"You fear Death. You fear its undeniable grasp… The tendrils of its raging might, its intricate beauty, that come and curl around you, drag you into the depths as you go down kicking and screaming for help…. You are terrified. You wish to never find yourself in that situation. Wasn't that the same case with your dear, departed father?"

Yami was about to retort, but stopped, dumbfounded. "What on Earth do you mean?"

"Akhenamkhanen," smirked Marik. "Surely you've heard the name? The old fool's exploits are known by many."

"Do not speak of my father in such a manner, heretic!" screamed Yami. "He was a greater man than you would ever be! I wish I was half the Pharaoh he was. If you insult him one more time, I swear on the grave of my ancestors, I will…"

"Do what?" said Marik, now serious. "Akhenamkhanen was not the saint others portrayed him to be. Why do you think the man ordered the creation of the Millennium Items? The Persians had declared war on Egypt. It was a bad situation, for there had been dissent between the two countries for a period of time. Akhenamkhanen knew this, but neglected to prepare an army. When Persia attacked, all seemed lost. Rather than face the music, the old fool slaughtered ninety-nine in order to take the easy way out."

Yami was stunned. He had never heard such a story. He knew that Kul Elna was ravaged in order to gain sacrifices, but he never realized it had been a last resort to a situation that would have never taken place had Akhenamkhanen been prepared. He still said roughly, "I don't believe you. Make your move."

Marik shook his head. "You know what I say is true Pharaoh. Why should I lie? But in any case, it is not my concern if you wish to display such great ignorance. My concern is that you should be brought face to face with Death." There was silence, as the Silent Magician LV4 grew further (2000 + 500 2500/1000).

"Hmmm….. I think I should summon an old friend. Rise up and show your face to us, Gene-Warped Warwolf (2000/100)!" The massive wolf appeared. It was on two legs, and had blazing red eyes. It was covered in heavy armor.

Yami shrugged. "Fine. It can destroy Rapid Fire Magician or Skilled Dark Magician, but it stands no chance against my Silent Magician LV4. Next turn, I can blow it away."

"Really?" sneered Marik, holding up his next card. "We shall see about that. I play Graceful Charity. As you know, I can draw three cards at the cost of discarding three." An evil smirk played across his face as he completed this move.

"Time for you to meet a monster the likes of which you have never seen before. Its absolute might rivals those of the legendary Chaos monsters. This monster can only be summoned when I have exactly three dark monsters in my graveyard…. Coincidentally, I just discarded Jinzo (2400/1500). Along with Archfiend Soldier and Dark Ruler Ha Des, I now have three. Rise up and find it in yourself to destroy the Pharaoh…. Dark Armed Dragon (2800/1000)!!"

A plume of smoke to rose up. From the smoke came a loud roar, followed by a bright glow. Soon enough, powerful clawed hands came out of the smoke, followed by metallic wings, a long tail with a cylindrical like mace on the tip, strong legs with drills sticking from it's legs, and finally followed by a strong head covered in semi-shiny metal armor that protected black skin. It had a massive, horn-like spike on its neck. Its head looked almost human, and its clawed paws looked deadlier than anything Yami had ever seen.

"What kind of monstrosity have you summoned, Marik?!" gasped Yami.

"A very powerful monstrosity," sneered Marik. "Now, his effect allows me to remove from play a dark monster to destroy a card on your field. I could remove all three and clear your field, but I don't want to get rid of my Jinzo, and it would go against my strategy. You will understand my meaning later. For now, Dark Armed Dragon will blow away your Silent Magician!"

Roaring loudly, the dragon opened its jaws, revealing blazing black flames. With little effort, it shot forth a mighty beam of red hot fire at the magician. The silver haired magician's eyes widened as the energy soared towards him. He tried to block it with his staff, but he was burned away.

"Gene-Warped Warwolf, tear his Skilled Dark Magician apart!" The wolf howled and rushed forward. It slammed its claws into the black armored magician, who tried to fend it off with a whack on the head with its staff. But it was to no avail. Yami grimaced at the sickening scene of murder.

(Yami: 10050, Marik: 7200)

"I think I will end my move with that, as well as one facedown card" smirked Marik. "Seeing as you only have your pathetic Rapid Fire Magician, you are at quite the disadvantage." A brown-backed card appeared behind the deadly Dark Armed Dragon and Gene-Warped Warwolf.

Yami scowled at the taunting and drew. The slight effort of having to maintain Rapid Fire Magician's presence wasn't taking up any much needed energy, but he knew that he would need it when he was going to summon an Egyptian god.

"I will play Premature Burial! I pay eight hundred life-points to revive one monster from my graveyard. I will call upon my Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000)!" The silver haired magician appeared once more, and swung its small white staff in Marik's direction, a determined look on its face. However, its power was back to its original level, which was far too weak to combat the horrendous beasts on Marik's field.

"Then I play Level Up! Now, I can sacrifice one monster with 'level' in its name in order to special summon from my deck a monster that has the same name, but a different level. So, I sacrifice Silent Magician LV4, to summon the almighty Silent Magician LV8 (3500/1000)!"

Glancing back at Yami, the white mage smiled and simply nodded before vanishing into a white light. A moment later, a new mage, similar in looks, except older and more mature with more height and strength appeared. The mage's silver hair was a bit longer than when he was younger, and his brown eyes still showed great innocence, but great power as well.

"You won't be getting off so easily, because Rapid-Fire Magician's special ability just kicked in as well. When a normal spell is played, you take 400 points of damage!"

Pointing his staff at Marik, the mage willed the many spheres surrounding him forward. The spheres all struck Marik at the same time, bringing a grimace from him. But he didn't say anything else, which meant that the attack didn't make much of a difference to him.

(Yami: 9250, Marik: 6800)

"Impressive magician," sneered Marik. "But if you think he's all you will need to combat my Dark Armed Dragon, you are sorely mistaken, Pharaoh. Sooner or later, your foolishness will lead to your demise."

Yami ignored the criticism. "Finally I play Card of Demise! I can draw until I hold five cards, but in five turns I must discard my entire hand." Marik raised an eyebrow. "Quite a risk you're taking, Yami. You do realize that if you haven't won the duel in five turns, any hope of victory will be tossed out of the window. And as you know, victory against me, let alone such a quick victory, is impossible."

Yami smirked at the card he had drawn. "_Exactly what I wanted_."

"Is it a risk you are willing to take? Or will you cower behind defensive maneuvers like the fool you are?"

Yami thought for a second. Silent Magician LV8 was immune to all of Marik's magic cards, so he couldn't chain a quick-play spell that would destroy him. But trap cards were always a possibility… But it didn't matter. If he didn't attack, then Marik would remove a dark monster from play to destroy the mighty mage.

"Silent Magician, attack with Silent Scepter Blast Level Eight!" Glancing over his shoulder, the mage nodded and leapt into the air. Pointing his staff straight at the black dragon, the mage released a sphere of pure white magical energy that crackled while traveling down its path straight for the demonic wyvern.

"Fool! I activate my facedown trap card, Negate Attack! I can immediately end your battle phase!" Yami growled in anger as the white energy was sucked into a spinning vortex. "_It was worth a try_," he lamented. Of course, he would now have to take steps to protect his monsters. "I switch Rapid Fire Magician to defense mode." The purple-haired magician dropped to one knee.

"Then I place a facedown card and end my turn."

Marik snapped the top card of his deck, swinging it around before looking at it. "Hmm…. I wasn't expecting this. I play Allure of Darkness! By removing a dark monster in my hand from play, I can draw two cards." He picked a card from his hand, and put it in the removed from play pile. He then drew two more cards.

"Then I sacrifice Gene-Warped Warwolf for the mighty Darknight Parshath (1900/1400)!" Instantly, a bright purple glow filled the field as a half angel, half horse creature appeared. The angel half wore purple and black armor, and had black wings draping across its body in different places. It had long orange hair. It didn't have a right hand, and instead had a sword attached to its wrist, while his left held a shield. The horse half was black, and had wings on it's back. "This monster gains one hundred attack points for every dark monster in my graveyard. I have three, so it gains three hundred."

"First, I'll remove from play two dark monsters to annihilate your two monsters with the might of my Dark Armed Dragon!" Even as two spirits began to appear, those of the Archfiend Soldier and Dark Ruler Ha Des, the Dark Armed Dragon snapped open its jaws, ready with a blast of black energy.

"Sorry, Marik, but I activate my facedown Skill Drain! At the cost of one thousand life-points, all monster effects are negated as long as this mighty trap as in play." Marik's eyes widened as a wave of colorful energy erupted out of the facedown card. He crossed his arms over his face, but it was not enough to block out the roar of confusion that the Dark Armed Dragon gave as the fire in its mouth disappeared. At the same time, the Darknight Parshath's attack points went back down to nineteen hundred.

(Yami: 8250, Marik: 6800)

"Fine! You will lose anyway. Now my Darknight Parshath can destroy your Rapid-Fire Magician!" The monster crowed with joy, and rushed across the field. It slammed its sword into the smaller magician, who was unable to parry the blow with its scepter. The magician screamed as it was put out of its misery.

(Yami: 7950, Marik: 6800)

"Then I end my turn."

Yami smirked at his new card. ""I start by summoning my Magician's Valkyrie (1600/1800) in defense mode."

A young female mage with long chestnut colored hair that reached her mid-back that wore a mostly light blue with some light purple like dress and an odd looking light blue mage's hat appeared onto the field. She held a scepter in her right hand that looked like a ram's horn on the end of a stick that had three green jewels on each side. The scepter itself was a light grey. She took a one kneed stance with her arms crossed.

"Then my Silent Magician LV8 will blow away your Dark Armed Dragon with Silent Scepter Blast Level Eight!"

Leaping into the air, the white robed mage aimed his scepter at the horrible black dragon. Energy began to gather at the end of his staff, causing a white sphere of energy to appear. Without warning, the energy was launched from the tip of the staff and sent sailing towards the demonic dragon. The blast struck the dragon hard, causing a large explosion to form with smoke billowing. Once the smoke settled, it was clear the dragon had not the strength to withstand the blast.

(Yami: 7950, Marik: 6100)

"Impressive," mused Marik. "You have nearly a two thousand life-point lead. But of course, continue your turn."

Yami considered. There was really nothing much he could do at this point. "I end my turn."

Marik drew, and gave a morbid laugh. "As you know, your activation of Skill Drain left me with four dark monsters in my graveyard." Yami shrugged. "So what?"

"Well, I will show you my point with this next monster! When I have four dark monsters with different names, I can tribute summon it with only one tribute. I'd like to introduce you, Yami no Yugi, to the power of my mighty Darklord Zerato (2800/2300)!"

The Darknight Parshath vanished. A crimson mist enveloped Marik's side of the field, and Yami narrowed his eyes. What monstrosity had Marik called upon this time?

A hulking form arose from the middle of the mist. It was about twelve feet tall, and when the mist cleared, Yami blanched at the sight of the twisted, demonic force emerging from within the spinning, blood red vortex. It looked...purely evil, with a blood-red helmet and wings, and a muscular body with skin as black as midnight. It wore gauntlets and a loincloth, and it wielded a huge sword that was sharp at numerous edges along its sides as well as the tip, which shone with pure malice.

"What the hell is that thing?" gasped Yami, repulsed.

"A true dark angel," whispered Marik. "The incarnate of Lucifer…. That's what the Darklord Zerato is. Allow me to demonstrate his indomitable might. By discarding one dark monster from my hand, I can obliterate every monster on your side of the field! So I will say goodbye to my Masked Beast Des Guardius, in order to blow away every single one of your monsters!"

The demonic warrior slashed its sword through thin air. But its power was more than enough to generate a large energy wave which soared towards Yami's field. He crossed his arms in front of his face in an attempt to withstand the force of the attack, but he could still feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up as the wave of energy brutally ripped through both of his monsters. He could hear the Magician's Valkyrie's shriek of pain and the grunt of the Silent Magician LV8 as they disappeared into the abyss.

"Now, Darklord Zerato, attack his life-points directly!"

The dark angel gave a morbid growl, and its sword gleamed. His leg muscles tensed, and then he shot off across the field at a blinding speed. Yami's trained eyes followed him, and as common sense commanded, he crossed his arms in front of his face. He snarled in pain as the sword descended. The force was incredible, for it was backed by perhaps six hundred pounds of a demonic warrior.

(Yami: 5150, Marik: 6100)

"Did that hurt, Pharaoh?" sneered Marik, crossing his arms. "Believe me, if you continue to stand against this deck, it will hurt more. Surrender now, and the pain will end. Be intelligent for once. You cannot defeat me."

Yami glared at him. "Just shut up and continue your move."

"Very well," said Marik, not at all perturbed. "I will set a card facedown and end my turn." Suddenly, the Darklord Zerato gave a cry of shock upon seeing cracks beginning to appear on its chest. It glanced over at Marik is if in a plea for help, but could barely do anything else before it exploded. "Darklord Zerato is destroyed on the turn I use its effect," said Marik. "Easy come, easy go."

"You sicken me," spat Yami, drawing. "You have no respect for your monsters at all. I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500/1800)!" A pink metal magnet creature with strange wings, large pink feet, a big blue S on its chest, silver spring like arms, a magnet around it's neck, and a strange pink head appeared onto the field with its arms spread out. It gave a strange buzz.

"Attack directly!" Marik didn't seem to feel the fist as it buried itself in his gut. With a shrug, a wave of golden energy knocked it away. "I set a card and end my turn."

(Yami: 5150, Marik: 4600)

Marik drew, and gave a deep chuckle. "Idiot… I play Beginning of the End! This rare and powerful magic card only activates if I have seven or more dark monsters in my graveyard. By removing from play five of them, I can draw a grand total of three cards!"

Yami's eyes widened as Jinzo, the Darknight Parshath, Archfiend Soldier, Dark Ruler Ha Des and Darklord Zerato all appeared behind Marik in spirit form. He smirked as they all entered his body. He snapped three cards off the top of his deck, increasing his total hand size to four.

"Hmm…. Time for some payback, I think. I play the magic card Monster Reborn! This allows me to special summon one monster from either graveyard, as you know. Remember that Fusion Guard I activated a few turns ago?" Yami simply nodded.

"Well, time for you to be introduced to him! I'm quite sure you've seen this rare and powerful card in action before, but I doubt you've faced it. Rise up, agent of light, and turn against the master of your cause. I call upon thee, Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

The field soon began to glow with a blinding blue light, making it impossible to see. Once the light died down, a large three headed machine snake like dragon with massive wings on its back let out a mighty roar.

Yami's narrowed in anger. Marik was daring to use a true light monster, a noble beast who had fought for their cause against him? This monster shared a close bond with Zane Truesdale. Although Yami did not know him too well at all, he respected Zane's bond with his monsters, and his policy of respecting the opponent. "How dare you use that monster!" snarled Yami.

Marik shrugged. "It's not a question of daring to. It's how much I want to irritate you. Attack his Magnet Warrior with Super Strident Blaze!" Roaring in response, the three headed dragon opened each of its jaws. Taking aim, each of the three heads released a burst of white energy, which twisted into one large white stream of energy.

Yami knew he couldn't allow this attack to hit. If it did, he would lose nearly half his life-points. "I activate my facedown Zero Gravity! This will change the battle positions of all monsters on the field. Gamma and Cyber End Dragon will now both be forced into defense mode."

Marik looked a bit disappointed as the Cyber End Dragon suddenly growled in pain. It was as if an invisible force was acting on it, and the white energy disappeared. It crossed its wings around its body, and Gamma did the same with its arms. The two were at a stalemate.

"Fine," shrugged Marik. "You saved yourself for one turn. I end."

Yami drew, closing his eyes. Cyber End Dragon had twenty-eight hundred defense points. If he didn't draw the right card now, he would take massive damage during Marik's next turn. "_Please, Heart of the Cards… Help me defeat him, and finally end this madness_."

He snapped his eyes open at his next card. It was perfect.

"I play Roll of Fate!" A die appeared on the field. "Now, a die is rolled. Whichever number it falls on is equal to the number of cards I draw." The die flew up into the air. Marik scoffed. "A risky move. If it falls on a one, then you simply break even." The die fell out of the sky, and Yami smirked. It was a four.

"Now I draw four cards." He raised his hand size to a full six cards, and he gave Marik a patronizing smirk. "I hold two cards in my hand that will help me to defeat Cyber End Dragon."

Marik smirked. "Two cards cannot defeat the might of my Cyber End Dragon. You're bluffing. Next turn, I'll switch it to attack mode and obliterate you!" Yami shook his head. "A bit of a foolish statement to make. You see, I start by playing the spell Ties of the Brethren. I pay a 1000 life points, and now I can special summon two level four or lower monsters from my deck in defense. I pick Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700) and Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600)!"

Placing both monster cards horizontally onto his Duel Disk, Yami watched as a grey magnet creature with a sword and shield, followed by a yellow magnet creature with magnets for it's hands, feet, and had a magnet wrapped around it's head.

"I now send Alpha, Beta, and Gamma to the Graveyard in order to special summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!"

Each of the three magnet creatures let out a small moan and began to split apart. Slowly, the pieces began to form a new single creature. The creature had a sword, powerful arms and feet, a strong set of pink wings, and a yellow masked face with magnets on it. Letting out a new moan, the creature took an offensive stance.

"I remember this…." hissed Marik angrily.

"Normally, he stands no chance against a Cyber End Dragon. But since your machine is in defense mode, he is going to find himself on a one way trip to the graveyard! Attack with Ultimate Magnet Edge!" Rushing across the field, the large magnet creature brought it's sword forward, preparing to attack. With a single sweep, it slashed the machine dragon completely in half, leaving a shower of sparks in its wake. The remains of the dragon exploded quickly, leaving a small plume of smoke.

Yami smirked confidently. "That's only the beginning. Feel free to surrender at any time."

Marik met his gaze with a steely one of his own. "Just play."

"I set a card and end my turn," finished Yami.

Marik smoothly slid the top card off his deck and added it to his hand. "Hmm….. I summon a monster known as the Black Knight-Saverok (1900/1500) in attack mode!" A terrible monster appeared on Marik's field. It had the classic dark knight look going on, with creaky black armor. The armor had sharp edges, with a spiked helmet. Through the grille, Yami could see blood red eyes. It sat on an equally dark-looking horse, which also had a similar helmet. It held a long lance-like spear in one hand, and a terrible sword in the other.

Yami shook his head. "My monster is nearly twice as strong as yours. I'm not seeing a point here."

"Heh…. You will, believe me. Saverok, attack his monster!" The knight howled, and pulled on the reins of its horse, which charged. It raised its lance and slammed the weapon into the Magna Warrior as Yami watched in amazement. "Are you insane?" Valkyrion howled, and slammed its electricity filled sword onto the black knight, who cried out in shock as it was cleaved in half, along with its steed.

(Yami: 5150, Marik: 4600)

"Why didn't your life-points change?" said Yami, narrowing his eyes.

"Simple. The Black Knight-Saverok can only attack those monsters which are more powerful than him. I don't take battle damage when he's destroyed. But when he is destroyed, I can add one dark warrior monster from my deck to my hand." He pulled out his deck, and smirked at the card he found. "You are not going to like this when I play it, Yami. First, however, I will play the magic card, Double Spell! By discarding my Repayment of Losses, and drawing another card, I can use one magic card from your graveyard…… I don't think there's a better choice than Roll of Fate!" Yami grimaced as the die appeared on Marik's field. It flew into the air, and landed back down. Marik's grin broadened. It was a five. He drew until he held a massive seven cards.

"Now, I play the ritual magic card, Rise of the Dark Swordsman! I must sacrifice ten levels worth of dark monsters from my hand or field. But it will be well worth it. You see, I am sending to the graveyard my Dark Grepher (1700/1600), Dark Mimic LV1 (100/100), and Dark Nephthys (2400/1600) in order to summon a very powerful monster."

Marik raised is hands in triumph.

"There is a small background behind this monster, Pharaoh. Due to your ignorance and characteristic stupidity, I doubt you know much of the end of the Japanese Tokugawa Era, in the later part of the nineteenth century. The year was 1871, I believe. Tokugawa Yoshinobu was the last shogun, or military ruler. Of course, the democratic Meji era began after that. I always thought that if one were the introduce some of the shoguns to Shadow magic, they would have a tremendous potential."

He sighed. "Anyway, the end of the Tokugawa era was perhaps one of the bloodiest parts of the world's history. Men were killed like rabbits, and the political tension was crazy. There was, however, one assassin who was considered to be the greatest killer of them all." An evil smile spread across his face.

"Unfortunately, he followed the same path as my hikari. He ended up vowing never to kill again, but his skill was still deadly. He had no magic whatsoever, which was what made the precision and deadliness with which he struck all the more impressive. Believe me, Pharaoh, if even one of us went up against him, using minor levels of Shadow Magic, it would be a challenge. Now, let me introduce you to his dark side, the insane killer that assassinated one hundred men in six months! I call upon Dark Swordsman – Battosai the Slasher!"

The door to the terrace eerily opened with a creaking sound. Yami had been expecting a large summoning with fire and shadows, after his experience with Marik and Orochi, but this seemed to not be on the flashy side.

A figure not much taller than Marik slowly walked through the door. He was shrouded in darkness, but not before he raised his head to glare at Yami.

Yami was shocked. The monster looked like a normal man. He was dressed in a pink shirt, along with a flowing bottom. It had a white belt, in which a long katana was kept. It was in a black sheath, and the handle had a few pieces of gold buried in it. His face was Japanese, with narrowed eyes, and a firm mouth. The feature that stood out the most was a cross scar on his cheek. He had long, red, spiky hair. His eyes, however, were horribly blank. They were cold, and emotionless. Even the Millennium Eye would be unable to tell what went on in the mind of this dark swordsman.

"Pharaoh, allow me to introduce you to the former Kenshin Himura…. A man whose skill with the blade is second to none!" (0/0)

Yami stared in shock at the swordsman, before slowly smirking. "Sorry to disappoint you, but he has zero attack points. Did you plan to try and overcome Valkyrion the Magna Warrior with that?"

"Actually," chuckled Marik. "He doesn't need attack points. You see, one of his effects is that when he battles with a monster, no battle damage is done to me." Yami shrugged. "Fine. Valkyrion will destroy him with no effort, and then you will be wide open."

Marik shook his head. "Do you really think so? I equip him with the magic card, Heart of Clear Water! As long as his attack points stay below thirteen hundred, he cannot be destroyed in battle, or by card effects of any sort." Yami mentally groaned. Now he understood Marik's strategy! He planned to use this Dark Swordsman as a permanent defense until he drew a dark god.

"Now….. Battosai will attack your Magna Warrior! Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki!" Yami watched in amazement as the samurai positioned his right foot forward, and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. It happened without warning. His speed was so incredible, that even Yami's paranormal vision was barely able to watch him in action.

Valkyrion raised its sword in defense, but it was quite hopeless. Out of nowhere, Battosai reappeared. It's right foot slammed down hard onto the concrete ground, and with a scream of triumph, it drew the sword with lightning speed.

It was about four feet long, and very thin. It could have passed through a man's ribs without even grazing the bone. Even more strange, he could tell that it was a reversed edge blade. If it hit a someone without too much force, it would simply give him a large bruise.

The sword glowed in the black sky like a star in the heavens as it arced towards the Magna Warrior at a blinding velocity. Valkyrion buzzed, and raised its futuristic blade in defense. When the two weapons met, it was as if the heavens had been split open. The screech of metal against metal was almost too much.

Suddenly, a black vortex appeared between the two. "What the…." gasped Yami in shock. "The power of the Amakakeru Ryū no Hirameki is so great that it will create a vacuum between Battosai and his opponent," sneered Marik. "If the victim blocks the first attack, it will be rendered useless by the vacuum."

It was true. Valkyrion's mechanical brain tried to comprehend the otherworldly force that was trying to suck it in, but it didn't have the time to do so. Its assailant had spun around, and his sword slammed into Valkyrion's side. The Magna Warrior couldn't take anymore. With a moan of pain, it was knocked five feet away. It landed on the ground barely alive. Within moments, it disappeared.

"But…. How?!"

Marik snickered. "Any monster that battles Battosai is automatically destroyed, without damage calculation."

Suddenly, Yami felt a sharp jab of pain in his side. "What…. What was that?" he gasped.

"Simple. Battosai's final ability will deal you one hundred points of damage for each of your monster's levels. Since Valkyrion the Magna Warrior is a level eight, you lose eight hundred life-points!" Marik broke out into uncontrollable laughter as Yami's life-points fell. He stared up at the deadly samurai. How was he to defeat it?

(Yami: 4350, Marik: 4600)

"I end my turn," sneered Marik.

Yami gulped. He would have to destroy Heart of Clear Water if he was to try and get rid of Battosai. It was truly amazing… By itself, the ritual monster was worthless. But when Marik combined it with other cards such as Heart of Clear Water, it became a deadly killing machine. But it didn't matter…. For soon, Yami would crush it when he drew a god card.

"I summon a monster in defense mode and a facedown card. I end my turn." Yami was frustrated. This was all he could do.

Marik drew, and sneered. "Battosai…. Ryūtsuisen!" The samurai nodded, and leapt into the air. He drew his sword with lightning speed, and when he landed on the brown-backed card image, and slashed down on it. Yami frowned in irritation as his King's Knight (1600/1400) was sliced in half by the attack. The blonde monarch gave a cry of agony before disappearing.

"And now you lose four hundred points," pointed out Marik. Yami could feel the pain weakening him. At this rate, it would be nearly impossible to keep up when a dark god hit the field.

(Yami: 3950, Marik: 4600)

"End turn," said Marik in delight.

Yami knew what the cause of the villain's happiness was. This was his fifth turn after he activated the Card of Demise. Due to the otherwise useful card's side effect, he would be forced to discard his hand, leaving him defenseless against Marik. All he had was one facedown card…

"Go on!" pressed Marik. "Send them all to the graveyard."

Yami hesitated slightly, while Marik snarled in irritation. "If you refuse to, the shadows will automatically declare me the winner, leaving you defenseless against my wrath! Now discard your damn' hand!" Yami sighed, and folded up the four cards. He slipped them into the graveyard.

"Now you're doomed!" roared Marik.

"Really? I think my facedown Disgraceful Charity has something else to say about that! Now all the cards I discarded this turn return to my hand. That means all four cards I just sent into the Graveyard for Card of Demise return."

One by one, four cards slid out of the Graveyard Slot. Once all four were there, Yami picked them up and smirked at Marik. "I'm not through with this duel yet. And believe me, your Dark Swordsman will eventually fall to the power of Heaven!" Marik sneered back at him. "There is no heaven for you, Pharaoh! Surrender now and be spared my wrath!"

Yami shook his head adamantly. "Don't be so overconfident, Marik! No one is invincible, and your assassin is one of them. My deck has plenty of combinations to get rid of it, now its just a question of drawing the right cards." He held up his index and middle finger. "Two turns. I guarantee you that when my second turn after I finish saying these words comes, your Dark Swordsman will find himself in the graveyard."

"You're awfully confident of a false statement," retorted Marik. "But go ahead with your move."

"Very well. I play a card facedown and end my turn."

Marik snickered, and drew one more card. "Hmm…. I summon Dark Templar (1200/1200) in attack mode!" A new soldier appeared on Marik's field. It was dressed in heavy silver armor, and was quite lean and tall. It had fair skin, as well as blonde hair. He held a simple broadsword in one hand, with a white shield emblazoned with a red cross attached to the other. His features reflected maliciousness and greed…. Truly, he was a dark templar.

"Twelve hundred?" chuckled Yami. "You will have to do better than that."

"Really? Twelve hundred will be enough to pierce through your defenses and attack your life-points, in my opinion. Battosai, Shinsoku Nōtōjutsu!" The dark side of Kenshin Himura gazed over at the facedown card image. He once again placed his right foot forward, and leapt towards the brown-backed image.

The card flipped over to reveal Yugi's Skilled White Magician (1700/1900). It was a mage in white robes and cloak with a white hood, a staff, and three half spheres, with one on each shoulder, and one on his chest appeared onto the field. Swinging his staff about into an offensive stance, the mage let out a small battle cry before firing out a white sphere of energy. Battosai dodged it, and his sword scythed through the air. However, the mage was barely able to dodge it.

The Dark Swordsman landed on the other side, with a sneer disfiguring his face. He raised his sword, and sheathed it with blinding speed.

For a second, nothing happened. Suddenly, a shockwave erupted from the area around Battosai. It was soundless, but the sheer force of the sonic wave slammed into the Skilled White Magician and caused him to shatter into hundreds of thousands of tiny pixels.

(Yami: 3550, Marik: 4600)

"Dark Templar… Attack his life-points directly!" Yami braced himself as the other swordsman cried out in joy, and charged towards him. With a swing of its arm, the blade had buried itself in Yami's arm. He snarled in pain, before firing a blast from his Millennium Puzzle at the silver armored knight. The templar was knocked away, but the damage was done. Yami was losing.

(Yami: 2350, Marik: 4600)

"Ready to give up yet, Pharaoh?" sneered Marik. "No…. I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!" roared Yami, hauling himself up.

"Your loss," shrugged Marik. "End turn."

Yami drew his next card. "I call upon the might of my Paladin of Ra (1500/1200)!" A tall man in golden armor appeared. He had the symbol of the deadly god that he represented etched into his breastplate, and although he didn't carry a weapon, his hands glowed with silver energy.

"A pathetic excuse for a monster!" sneered Marik. "Really? My Paladin's attack points are doubled when he's normal summoned, but they are then reduced by four hundred for every monster zone that is filled, on my side of the field. Luckily, all are empty." Marik was impressed as the knight's attack points reached an even three thousand, an amount that allowed it to go toe to toe with a Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"Not bad," observed the spiky haired villain. "But attack points are useless against Battosai."

"Your Dark Templar will be target enough," retorted Yami. "Paladin of Ra… Divine Phoenix Flames!" The paladin nodded, and raised both of its hands. With a cry of exertion, it let lose a burst of blazing fire at the once soldier of God. The traitorous knight screamed in pain as the flames burned its very soul, purifying its body of all the terrible sins it had once committed. Soon, the entire monster was nothing but ashes.

(Yami: 2350, Marik: 2800)

"I end my turn," smirked Yami.

Marik drew. "Fool! By destroying my Dark Templar you activated his effect! I can now call upon one level four dark warrior from my deck. Hmm…. I choose the Dark Templar Archer (1600/1700) in attack mode, and then his effect will go off. When he's special summoned, you lose life-points equal to the level of your monster multiplied by one hundred!"

A man in significantly lighter armor than his previous one, consisting mostly of very thin chain mail and a silver cape, a short bow in his hands and a quiver full of arrows on his back appeared. Reaching back and grabbing one arrow he knocked his bow, took aim, and fired, striking Yami in the shoulder.

"Sorry, but I can't allow that to happen! I activate my facedown Hallowed Life Barrier! By discarding a card from my hand, which in this case was Repayment of Losses, all damage done to me this turn from any source is reduced to zero!"

Yami drew one more card, and Marik frowned. "Very well. I can still destroy your Paladin of Ra! Attack now, Battosai… Kuzu-ryūsen!" The dark samurai drew his blade, and held it in front of him, parallel to his body. His eyes was focused on the blade, and with a cry, he seemed to move across the field at blinding speed.

Yami couldn't see what he had done. For a second, it seemed like there was a translucent image of a Chinese dragon curled around his sword. The blade moved with such speed, that it seemed like it had performed nine attacks at one turn.

The Paladin of Ra simply disappeared. "Impressive," mused Yami.

"Let's see if you can keep to your promise, Pharaoh," sneered Marik. "The Dark Swordsman will not be defeated! End turn!"

Yami drew, and closed his eyes. "Marik…. This is it." His opponent raised an eyebrow.

"I activate my magic card, Monster Reborn! With this, I can raise Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850) from my Graveyard to the field!"

With a flash of light, the metallic warrior reappeared onto the field and took up a fighting pose. It let out a small moan, showing it was truly ready to battle.

"He won't be staying long though. I use his effect once again, bringing back the three Magnet Warriors, so return Alpha (1400/1700), Beta (1700/1600), and Gamma (1500/1800) in defense!"

The large metallic warrior let out a small groan as it began to glow. From the glow came three beams of light, which formed the grey, yellow, and pink magnet creatures. Each took a knee, with the pink and yellow ones crossing their arms while the grey one took up a defensive stance with its shield and sword.

"Pathetic!" scoffed Marik, before it suddenly hit him. "You're….. You're summoning a God!"

Yami held up a card. "Come out, my great beast…. _Slifer the Sky Dragon_ (X000/X000)!"

All three monsters vanished in a quick flash. The sky seemed even more overcast suddenly as clouds appeared above the field. Slowly, lowering from the clouds was a long red serpent like body with many spikes and a black underbelly. A set of sharp clawed feet appeared on the body, and finally the head of the creature dipped down from the clouds. On its back were massive red wings, which gave a small beat. The head of the creature was extremely powerful. It had two sets of jaws, glowing yellow eyes, and a blue gem in the middle of its forehead.

Marik stared at it…..

"_Let the beginning of the end commence_."

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**Whoo! Battosai versus Slifer! Next time, a dark god will rise. I hope you guys like Marik's new deck, because it is soon going to get way cooler. Thanks a lot for all the support, and please review more!**


	45. Phantom Darkness – Gods of Light and Dar

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR: Phantom Darkness – Gods of Light and Dark

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR: Phantom Darkness – Gods of Light and Dark

**Part 2 of the final duel of YuGiOh! Advent of Power. I had a blast writing this, and I hope you enjoy it.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Shishio or Jin? Interesting. I might make cards like that in the future. Believe me, what you saw was a simple prelude to what I hope is going to be my masterpiece (**_**my**_** masterpiece, not **_**a**_** masterpiece. Many authors far surpass me). Enjoy it, my friend.**

**Mystralwind: Nope, no crossover. Just a fun card I made.**

**SailorMoon59: Wow…. Your comments are very appreciated.**

**Aelstha-Mental: Thanks a lot. I'm glad you liked it so much.**

"Hmm….. It shall be interesting to face Slifer to Sky Dragon once more," murmured Marik, staring up at the sinuous god.

"As you know, Slifer has one thousand attack points for every card in my hand," said Yami, with authority in his voice. The god began to glow as its attack points began to increase. It was already powerful enough to destroy ninety percent of the monsters in the game (3000/3000).

"What a waste!" boomed Marik. "Only three thousand…. You were better off with Valkyrion! And in any case, it can't destroy my Dark Swordsman, whether its attack points are three thousand or thirty thousand!" Yami chuckled to himself.

"You're quite wrong, actually. I have one card in my hand that will change all of that." He held it up. "I play the magic card United We Stand!" Marik rolled his eyes. "That reduced Slifer's attack points by a net total of two hundred. What was the point of such a worthless…"

It was then that he saw Battosai's stats (1600/1600). "You… You…"

"I equipped _your_ monster with United We Stand, instead of mine," smirked Yami. "Since its attack points crossed thirteen hundred, Heart of Clear Water is destroyed! This leaves your samurai wide open to Slifer's attack!" The assassin cringed as the dragon roared at it (2000/2000).

"Slifer the Sky Dragon, attack the Dark Swordsman with your Thunder Force!"

Letting out a mighty roar, the dragon opened its jaws wide. Golden energy began to form within the dragon's bottom jaw, making the red haired warrior slightly apprehensive about his position. With little warning, the dragon released a stream of the golden energy straight at its target, who crossed his arms in front of himself, hoping to block the blast. But of course, it could not deny the might of a god. The attack slammed into it, throwing it off the building.

It didn't stop there. The blast continued on until Battosai hit the ground twelve hundred feet below. It continued to power through the creature, until there was nothing left but a hole in the ground and a pile of cinders. The swift night air blew the ashes away, leaving no trace that the corrupt swordsman had ever existed.

(Yami: 2350, Marik: 2400)

The two were almost even now. There life-points had a difference of fifty… But despite that, Slifer the Sky Dragon gave Yami an almost unquestionable advantage.

"I end my turn," smirked Yami.

Marik frowned. "Hmm…. I don't like this very much. I switch Dark Templar Archer to defense mode, and add one facedown card. End turn." The bow wielding warrior dropped onto one knee, crossing his arms across his chest. Behind him appeared, a brown-backed card.

Yami smirked. With Slifer at his side, there was no way he would lose. He drew, as the dragon roared. "Since I just drew, Slifer gains power (3000/3000)!" Marik frowned. This was not at all what he had planned. He had been hoping to destroy the foolish Pharaoh without even having to play a dark god, but it would take far too much effort to even combat the divine dragon, forget destroy it, without summoning one of the pieces of the God of Death, Anubis.

"Now…. Destroy his unholy monster, Slifer! THUNDER FORCE!" Opening its massive jaws, the mighty red dragon released a burst of golden energy that easily obliterated the corrupt soldier. Marik snarled in anger as the archer threw aside his bow and arrows just before he disappeared.

"When he's destroyed," sneered Marik, "I can special summon one monster that has been destroyed in battle, from my graveyard with half its original attack points. I summon Cyber End Dragon (4000 – 2000 2000/2800) in defense mode!"

The large three headed machine snake like dragon with massive wings on it's back let out a mighty roar.

Slifer suddenly roared and fired off a ball of energy from its upper jaw. The powerful machine dragon was then struck and screeched in pain as the blast hit it. When it hit, a cloud of smoke rose from where the blast had made contact. When the smoke cleared, there stood the once powerful dragon with scratches all over its body. The metal had been ripped in places, exposing wires. It still had its pride in tact, but was definitely weaker (2000/2800 – 2000 800).

"I don't see how that will help you," scoffed Yami. "Believe me, you will see eventually," chuckled Marik. "Now, is your turn finished?"

Yami shook his head. "I set a monster in defense mode, and add one facedown card. End turn." The long red dragon roared in anger as its power dropped (1000/1000).

"Are you crazy?" said Marik incredulously. "You do realize even my Cyber End Dragon can defeat you now."

Yami simply motioned for Marik to continue his move. "Very well…. If you wish for your god to be destroyed, who am I to stop you? After all, the complete annihilation of Slifer the Sky Dragon will bring be one step closer to winning the Tournament of Shadows, and then letting lose the forces of darkness upon this pathetic excuse for a planet."

He snapped the top card off his deck, and a shadow passed over his eye momentarily. "I play Pot of Greed." He snapped the top two cards off his deck.

"Then I will add Painful Choice." He pulled five cards out of his deck and held them up to Yami. They were three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600), and two magic cards called A Second Chance.

Yami's mind was spinning. He had Cyber End Dragon on the field, and he wanted to send three Cyber Dragons to the graveyard. That could only mean that he held De-Fusion, which would allow Marik to special summon all three Cyber Dragons back to the field. Of course, if they were in defense mode, it meant that Slifer would blow them all away, since their defense points were only sixteen hundred. If they were in attack mode, they would be at a mere one hundred, leaving them as open targets.

What would be the point….. Then it hit Yami.

Marik was going to summon a dark god. It had to be. That was the only reason why he would want to summon three monsters that would be useless.

For a moment, Yami could barely say a word, but then he smirked. The simply solution was to let Marik keep a Cyber Dragon in his hand. Then, De-Fusion wouldn't activate, leaving Marik with nothing but his weakened Cyber End Dragon.

"Take your pick," whispered Marik. "Keep a Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)," shrugged Yami. Marik didn't bother to acknowledge what his opponent said, and slipped the card into his hand before inserting the other four into his graveyard slot.

"You will regret that choice… Go, Underworld Gem. I remove from play both A Second Chance magic cards, Dark Armed Dragon (2800/1000), Dark Swordsman – Battosai the Slasher (0/0) and also Dark Templar (1200/1200). When removed from play, A Second Chance allows me to draw two cards. The effect of Underworld Gem lets me re-use one normal magic card." He sneered at Yami and held it up.

It was Graceful Charity.

Yami was panicking even more now. Marik carelessly shoved two cards into his graveyard, and drew three more.

"I activate De-Fusion, special summoning three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) (x3) in attack mode." The large combo monster slowly began to glow, sending the large, three-headed dragon away. Once the glow died down, the three mechanical, snake like dragons appeared onto the field, with each taking up an offensive position on horizontal card images, roaring at the god. They didn't realize how outclassed they were.

Even as they did this, each one was hit by a sphere of white energy that had erupted out of Slifer's mouth. They roared in agony as their circuitry was fried by the supernatural energy, the mortal technology that comprised their bodies unable to withstand the heavenly wrath of a god (100/1600) (x3).

"It does not matter…." whispered Marik. He held up another card. "I sacrifice all three Cyber Dragons in order to summon the first of my three dark gods….. _Gilgamesh the Chaos Warrior _(?/?)!!"

The three weakened machines disappeared. At that second, all hell broke lose. Five bolts of lightning struck the field at different points, leaving burn marks on the solid concrete. The full moon seemed to be locked in a never-ending battle with the darkness of the void around it, as it seemed to give off white fire in an attempt to banish the flowing darkness.

"COME FORTH!" shrieked Marik, raising his hands.

The moon shone extra bright, and the rays of light slammed into the darkness present on the dueling field. For a second, it seemed like everything had been sucked into an inescapable void, with the overwhelming combination of light and darkness blinding Yugi. Slifer roared at the new arrival, but it could barely be heard.

The warrior of Marik's field was roughly fifty feet tall. It was dressed in shining black and white armor; with plates covering it's shoulders and knees. Spikes issued from the plates. It had a solid steel helmet, which was designed in such a way, that only its blood red eyes were visible.

In one hand it held a long, red daemon-blade, with a symbol on the pommel. The symbol represented streams of light and darkness streaming in from all directions. It had a gray cape hanging from its shoulders.

The lord of chaos snapped its head up to stare at the long, red dragon, who roared back at it, breaking the tension of the scene. The dark god's grip tightened on its blade, and the pieces of concrete broke off from around it. They began to float up into the air around it, and at the same time lightning crackled around Slifer's body. The two had met during ancient times…. And they were to do battle again.

Yami stared at the god on Marik's field. "_What… What is that thing_?" "_Whatever it is… We have to hope Slifer can defeat it. If not, then we're in real trouble,"_ replied Yugi. The Pharaoh could feel his hikari's fear. "_Don't worry… I will do everything in my power to make sure Slifer crushes this abomination_."

"Since you have been spared the wrath of a dark god in our previous duels…. I will explain his glorious effect to you," hissed Marik.

Gilgamesh raised his daemon-blade slightly, and he began to glow red. "His attack and defense points are equal to the total levels of the sacrificed monsters multiplied by four hundred…" Yami's eyes widened in terror.

Translucent images of the three Cyber Dragons appeared on Marik's field, before they were absorbed into the Gilgamesh's sword. "Since they were all level five…. That's fifteen multiplied by four hundred." The dark god looked up coldly at the divine dragon, which simply roared back. It was unable to understand that this demonic deity could cleave it in half with a single stroke of its sword (6000/6000).

"SUMMON LIGHTNING IMPACT!" screamed Yami harshly, all his veritable power forced into those words. He knew, however that it was quite useless.

Slifer roared, and spat a sphere of golden energy at the Chaos God. He gazed eerily into the oncoming attack as it hit him, and exploded. He was unscathed, but only physically. His stats had been reduced to four thousand.

"It's over…." said Marik with a twisted grin. "Divine Chaos Blade."

The black and white armored god simply leapt into the air. It's form was actually very sleek, so it seemed to move quite gracefully. It's daemon-blade left the sheath, and it glinted in the night sky as it silently soared towards Slifer. The draconian divine beast roared, and let lose a sphere of white energy, unwilling to give up against the twisted perversion of itself and its kin that was attempting to dishonor it.

Gilgamesh smoothly cleaved through the ball of energy as it floated towards Slifer. The dragon roared in surprise. "I will not allow Slifer to be destroyed!" screamed Yami. "I activate my facedown Negate Attack!" Suddenly, a spinning vortex appeared in front of the Chaos God. Gilgamesh paused. This was certainly surprising. Then, his expression changed to one of anger.

A scream was heard, and a sudden blast of wind exploded out of nowhere and crashed into the vortex. It was thrown some distance away, but it held. Gilgamesh stared at it, before returning to Marik's field.

Marik sneered at Yami. "With Gilgamesh on the field…. I cannot lose. End turn, Pharaoh." Suddenly, Gilgamesh's attack points soared back to six thousand. Of course, god cards were only affected by the effects of other god cards for but a turn.

Yami's eyes were closed as he drew. "I flip my facedown Morphing Jar (700/600)." Appearing on the field was a grey jar that seemed to have something within it. A sphere like creature with a wide grin that had yellow teeth and a single eyeball with a red iris slowly slid out of the pot.

"Since I flipped my monster, it's effect now goes off. Once flipped, we must discard our entire hands, and then we each draw five cards."

Marik shrugged and discarded his four cards, before drawing five more. His deck was quite large, containing about fifty cards. Yami doubted that he had even gone through half of it.

As Yami's hand size hit five, Slifer's attack points were nearly on par with Gilgamesh (5000/5000). The draconian deity roared at the Chaos God, showing that it would not be long before the unholy beast was surpassed. Gilgamesh matched glares with the dragon.

"Then I play Pot of Greed!" The grinning, green pot appeared on Yami's field as he snapped the top two cards off the top of his deck. Slifer's roar was so loud, that the very sky around them began to shake, as if afraid of the wrath of its master (6000/6000). Gilgamesh seemed wary now, for it held its daemon-blade up in a defense position.

"Now, Marik, Gilgamesh will fall to Slifer next turn! Beware… You have challenged a god, and you must pay the price!" With that, the ancient Pharaoh ended his turn.

Marik drew, as if he had not a care in the world. Yami could actually feel the intensity of the link between him and Gilgamesh. He closed his eyes and in his mind's eye, he could actually see a link of black fire connecting the two irredeemably evil entities. His eyes remained closed as Marik began to speak.

"I activate Gilgamesh's ability…. Once per turn, I can sacrifice my battle phase to destroy any monster on your field, and deal you damage equal to its attack points. Being a god, Slifer would be immune to this. I will target your Morphing Jar."

The Chaos God did not see it fit to actually go over to Yami's field to deal with the grinning jar. Instead, it raised the hand that did not have a sword. A nexus of blood red energy appeared. Its muscles tensed, and the sphere soared silently towards the Morphing Jar. The normally cackling monster had an expression of pure fright on its face as it was instantly vaporized.

(Yami: 1650, Marik: 2400)

Yami was on one knee, clutching his chest in pain. The sheer dark energy of Gilgamesh was almost too much for him to take. Still, he had to fight it.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yami drew triumphantly, despite his lack of energy. Slifer's sinuous form was glowing with divine energy, and the very air around it seemed to tremble with reverence. This was truly a great beast that commanded respect…. Lest he who was foolish enough to act against the divine ruler of the skies be smitten (7000/7000).

"Slifer… End this duel now with Thunder Force!"

Marik let lose a burst of insane laughter. "I activate my facedown card, Doomed Assault! I can pay a thousand life-points in order to force you to discard one card!" Yami's eyes widened as he hastily selected a card from his hand and slipped a card into his graveyard. He knew what was coming now.

Upon heeding the final command, the dragon unsealed the first of it's two mouths, and within this collected an orb of thunderous energy that could be felt even from the sidelines. As this ultimate weapon of damnation grew ever wider, the skies and the earth grew brighter with the immense luminosity that had become Slifer, for the dragon itself was glowing with the same strength as Ra itself.

As for its target, the dark god of Chaos, it had raised its daemon-blade. The red blade was crackling with black electricity.

At the same time, two things happened. The gigantic dragon let lose the burst of golden, thunderous energy, and Gilgamesh shot into the air with the speed of a lightning bolt, its sword pointing to the side.

The blast and the warrior reached the center of the field at precisely the same second. Gilgamesh swung his sword at such an angle so that the length of its blade slammed into the streaming divine energy that had left Slifer's mouth. For a second, it seemed like everything had frozen. Yami felt like a force was carrying him three hundred and sixty degrees around the entire scene, allowing him to witness every angle of this momentous battle. Then, chaos ensued.

The sound of the sword and blast clashing was nothing short of insane. A shockwave was let off from the point of collision, and it crashed into nearby buildings, leaving a number of large cracks. Slifer roared in anger, letting its divine judgment be executed in the form of the mighty blast that was trying to obliterate Gilgamesh. The dark god was pushing forward with all his hellish might, as if the arcane energies of his sword were going to vaporize the Thunder Force attack.

Yami watched in awe, Marik in sadistic joy, as the two gods struggled for supremacy. At one point, Gilgamesh had almost been able to get close enough to slice off Slifer's enormous head, but the mighty ruler of the skies had stopped him with an extra burst of energy. The Empire State Building quaked beneath them.

Marik began putting in his own energy into the attack. "_If I can get Gilgamesh to overpower Slifer, then I can finish of the Pharaoh now, once and for all._" Yami sensed this, as the dark god of Chaos began to push forward. "NO! I WILL NOT LET YOU!" roared Yami, and the Millennium Puzzle exploded with an aura of golden energy.

Slifer screeched as its absolute maximum strength was let lose. At that point, the battle ended. Both gods had had enough.

The entire field was bathed in a wave of light so intense, that Yami was forced to cover his eyes. He could vaguely make out Slifer's huge body and Gilgamesh's comparatively tiny one in it, before they both disappeared. There was a vague sound of a resounding explosion, but in his dazed state, Yami could barely hear it.

The light finally began to recede, and Yami blinked. The field was empty, without a single monster present. The sky was once again dark and overcast… They were back to square one.

"Meh… Had you destroyed Gilgamesh, the duel would have ended, Yami," chuckled Marik, his posture completely relaxed. "But as fate had it, I had Doomed Assault facedown. Don't you understand, Pharaoh? It is not by luck or fortune that I have come this far. I am destined to crush you once and for all, ending your pathetic reign."

Yami didn't answer, but took time to regain his composure. He would need to draw Obelisk or Ra sooner or later if he wanted to beat Marik… But he could do it without them as well.

"When Gilgamesh is destroyed," said Marik, interrupting Yami's train of thought, "we both gain life-points equal to half his attack points." A bolt of purple energy slammed into both duelists from Marik's graveyard, and Yami could feel the dark energy flooding him. It was extremely calming and relaxing, but he roughly shook it off. "_Don't get used to it… You have to destroy it_."

(Yami: 4650, Marik: 4800)

"I set a card and end my turn," said Yami quietly.

Marik drew aggressively. "I summon my Darkfire Teutonic (1800/1500) in attack mode!" In one fluid motion a warrior in silver plate armor and chain mail appeared, a sword at his waist and a white shield with a black cross on his left arm, while his right hand was holding onto the pole of a long banner which had the image of a surge of black fire on it.

"Attack directly with Darkblaze Sword!" Yami held up his hands in defense as the Roman warrior heard the blow of a war horn. He drew his sword and charged Yami. The blade missed his face by a millimeter, but it did graze him, leaving a small cut.

"When Darkfire Teutonic attacks you directly, I gain life-points equal to half the damage you took."

(Yami: 2850, Marik: 5700)

"End turn," sneered Marik.

Yami drew, and chuckled. "Perfect…. I activate my facedown Call of the Haunted! I could summon Slifer, but that would be foolish considering it would be summoned for only one turn. Instead, I call upon Queen's Knight (1500/1600)!"

In a flash, a female warrior with blond hair that fell to her mid-back, dressed in pink armor, except for her legs which were bare, and holding a sword in her left hand and a triangle like shield appeared with a small cry.

"Then I summon King's Knight (1600/1400)!" An older man with blonde shoulder length hair with red and gold armor, armed with a round shield with a star on it and a sword appeared beside of the woman in pink.

Marik rolled his eyes as Yami continued. "King's Knight has a very special ability by the way. When I have Queen's Knight out, along with King's Knight, I can special summon from my deck Jack's Knight (1900/1000)!"

Searching his deck, the Pharaoh finally found the card and slapped it to his Duel Disk. Immediately, a young knight with blonde hair that came to his shoulders with blue armor, a strong sword, and a triangle like shield appeared. He let out a small cry, showing he was ready to fight.

"Not bad," observed Marik. "You were actually able to summon all three of your Tri-Knights."

Yami smirked. "Jack's Knight, lead the charge and obliterate Darkfire Teutonic with Blade of Clubs!" With a quick leap, the young knight swiftly skimmed the field and plunged his sword into the corrupt Roman soldier's gut. The man who had once been at the helm of armies that conquered an inconceivable amount of land gasped in pain as the knight ruthlessly rammed his sword further in. With a cry of agony, the Darkfire Teutonic fell.

"Queen's Knight and King's Knight, attack him directly!" Rushing forward with sword raised, the woman swung her sword into Marik. He barely flinched as the sword slammed into his chest, drawing a line of blood. The King's Knight did the same, and the reaction he drew was little more.

"I set a card and end my turn," smirked Yami triumphantly.

(Yami: 2850, Marik: 2500)

Marik drew. "Fool! I summon Pitch Black Warwolf (1600/600) in attack mode!" A black, wolf-like warrior in heavy armor and wielding a dark blade appeared. It was nothing in comparison to the Gene-Warped Warwolf, but a nasty piece of work nonetheless.

"I equip him with my Axe of Despair! Now he will gain a thousand attack points. Added to his base sixteen hundred, you have a quite a monster to deal with." The werewolf discarded his sword, and took up a large axe that glowed with dark and unholy magic (2600/600).

"I'm not done yet… I play the magic card, Rising Darkness! I must sacrifice one dark monster in order to special summon another dark monster from my deck that has attack points less than this monster. Come on out, Dark Templar Swordsman (2550/1600)!"

A horn was heard in the distance. Yami narrowed his eyes as the wolf looked to the distance, and with a growl trekked off into the darkness. The horn sounded once again, and the silhouette of another warrior was seen among the shadows. He was about six foot six, with a well built body. Clad in silver armor, he wielded a large shield emblazoned with the image of a black sword. A cape hung loosely on his shoulders, and he had a blade on his belt.

"What was the point? You summoned a monster weaker than your previous one," said Yami, narrowing his eyes.

"You underestimate the power of my monsters," sneered Marik. "When Dark Templar Swordsman is summoned, I draw two cards." He chuckled. "And believe me when I say it was well worth it."

"But for now, Dark Templar Swordsman can destroy your Queen's Knight, and most of your life-points! Lance of Betrayal!" The traitorous warrior of god drew out his sword and looked over its length. He then looked at the monarchial, female soldier and a sadistic smile came over his face. With a scream of hatred, he charged across the field. He pushed past the Jack's Knight, and brought his sword down on the blonde queen. At least, he would have.

Suddenly, he was replaced by a brown-backed card. "What the…" gasped Marik in shock. He then narrowed his eyes in realization. "Book of Moon."

"Very true," agreed Yami, a casual smirk playing on his face. "It flips your Dark Templar Swordsman facedown, meaning the battle phase is over for you." Marik grimaced, knowing Yami's words to be true. "Very well. I will flip summon Dark Templar Swordsman during my main phase and end my turn." Once again, the silver armored warrior appeared.

Yami drew his next card, and flourished it triumphantly. "Now, Marik, you will face a true warrior! I play Polymerization, fusing King's Knight, Queen's Knight and Jack's Knight to summon a soldier far beyond your Dark Templar Swordsman. Face the undeniable wrath of the Arcana Knight Joker (3800/2500)!"

The three knights were sucked into a vortex, which began spinning. Right where the three Knights were before, a new, and huge, knight had appeared. He was dressed in white and purple clothing adorned with card symbols, and carried an extremely long sword. He also wore a royal hat that was adorned with card symbols as well.

"Not a bad monster," commented Marik.

"You will now see his real power. Attack with Ace of Spades!" The deadly knight lifted his holy blade, and rushed towards the warrior that was an insult to its kin. With a thunderous blow of its sword, it had cleaved the Dark Templar Swordsman in half. The two pieces hovered in mid-air for a minute, before disappearing.

(Yami: 3800, Marik: 1200)

"How did I gain life-points?" said Yami, confused. "Simple. Dark Templar Swordsman grants you one thousand extra life-points when he's destroyed. A rather unfortunate counter to his otherwise brilliant effect," said Marik distastefully.

Yami had a satisfied grin. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

It was back to Marik. "Now, I will strike back against you! Go, Renewal of Triplets! Now, I can special summon all monsters in my graveyard with the same name. I will special summon all three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) (x3)!" The three metallic, snake-like dragons reappeared on Marik's field. Their eyes glowed with hatred and want for revenge.

"Then I'll take a page out of your book with Polymerization!" The three creatures immediately began swirling together, forming a bright light. From the light, a large three headed machine snake like dragon with large metallic wings and a long tail then appeared. It had some lights running up and down the side of each dragon's head, along with a set of large green lights on the corner of the inner part of the dragon's wings. On the dragon's chest, right below where the head had connected, was a large green light as well. The three headed dragon roared loudly with a machine growl.

"Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!" laughed Marik.

Yami said nothing.

"I'm not done yet! You see, all of the monsters in Solomon Moto's possession when he dueled you, except of course for his pathetic Gilford the Lightning, belonged to me. All of them are unspeakably rare cards, and I took them from different duelists all over the world. I enchanted them with a bit of my magic, so that they could not be used by anyone else besides those whom I wished. I allowed Kyle Gardner to use the Chaos monsters to aid him against Dartz. After all, if he lost it meant you would duel him, leaving nothing for me. Once the Atlantian lost, I retook what was rightfully mine."

He glared at the Arcana Knight Joker. "I remove from play Dark Templar Swordsman as well as one Cyber Dragon, to call upon Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

A strong bolt of lightning struck right in front of Marik. From the lightning, a figure appeared. Bit by bit, it was revealed to be a warrior with black ebony shiny armor with a mixture of gold trim, as well as a few blotches of red, mostly around his helmet. In his right hand was a powerful bronze colored sword, and in his left was a strong shield with black and gold coloring. On his shoulders were two golden backward sweeping spikes. His face had a light shade of green. The helmet that protected his head had three flowing spikes pointing behind him, and coming out from under it in the back was a braid of brown hair. Once fully on the field, he took a kneeling position with his shield protecting his body.

"_No_!" thought Yami in desperation. "_Marik has the Chaos monsters! This makes things very difficult, for they are truly deadly creatures. I doubt he has Black Luster Lord and Chaos Gilford, so I think its limited to the Soldier, as well as the deadly Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End. Even so, this makes things far more complicated… I just hope they're there as support until he draws his dark gods. After all, he doesn't have too many light monsters_."

As if sensing Yami's thoughts, Marik chuckled. "You're right, for once. I only put in the Black Luster Soldier because I would need field presence until one of my dark gods ascended. I didn't even bother with Chaos Emperor Dragon: It's far too weak! Anyway. Cyber End Dragon, attack with Super Strident Blaze!"

Each head of the mechanical dragon roared loudly and took aim upon the magnet creature. Opening their jaws together, the dragons' mouths began to fill with white energy. Together, the three fired a stream of white energy, which combined into one single stream. "I won't let that happen! I activate my facedown Wabuko, negating your attack and reducing all battle damage to zero!"

Marik's mouth fell open in shock as three robed mages appeared on Yami's field. "Damn you, Yami no Yugi," he said, seething as the mages began to chant, warding off the mighty attack.

With nothing else to do, he was forced to end his turn.

Yami drew, and Marik felt a chill go down his back. Without even seeing the card, he could feel what it was. No… This was not possible. If the Pharaoh's plan went correctly, it meant the end of everything Marik had planned.

"This is finished, Marik. Go, De-Fusion." The large knight glowed momentarily, and then disappeared. The original three knights appeared on Yami's field in offensive stances, their swords held up proudly. "Then I sacrifice all three of them to summon my Egyptian God card….. _OBELISK THE TORMENTOR _(4000/4000)!"

Marik's eyes were wide with shock. "No…. No! This was not supposed to happen!" he found himself shouting in horror.

The three knights all pointed their swords skyward, there eyes filled with pure determination. They began to glow, and each was hit by a column of light. With that, they shot off towards the cosmos, never to be seen again.

"The descent of this mighty creature will be heralded by burning winds and twisted lands. And with the coming of this horror all those who draw breath shall know the true meaning of eternal slumber!" shouted Yami, his Millennium Puzzle glowing more brightly than ever. "Face the wrath of heaven for your sick deeds, Marik! Rise up…. _**OBELISK**_!"

Once this final command was issued, the entire field began to glow an eerie white, as a surge of fire from the depths of Hell flared up on Kaiba's side of the field. At the same time, thousands of streams of ethereal light shattered the barrier between Heaven and Earth. As the two energies started to swirl about the arena, slowly fusing into a unearthly fist, the creatures slated for tribute dropped their weapons and tried to flee, but within an instant they were lanced with triple bolts of lightning, and brought forth to the great hand. The second the trapped warriors came into the palm that drew them forth, their very souls were stripped from the frail shells of mortality, and sailed forth into the sky, where it was crafted by the chaotic hand into a massive deity.

Towering over the other creatures with an impalpable air of dignity, the god was over a hundred feet tall, its divine power sealed in an armor of dark blue flesh and sinew, while it's clawed appendages stood ready to wreak havoc upon any mortal enemies with the inescapable blow of damnation. Sending a cry of rage into the heavens, the reincarnation of light and darkness spread its great wings and scanned the landscape with eyes of burgundy eyes brimming with hatred.

Marik chuckled nervously. "It may be able to destroy my Black Luster Soldier, but it can do nothing to Cyber End Dragon."

Yami ignored him. "Obelisk, crush Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning with Fist of Fate!" Pulling back his large fist, the blue creature stepped forward and released his fist, smashing it into the Chaos Soldier. The legendary warrior raised his sword in defense, and it stopped the fist for a second. It attempted to slash Obelisk's hand, but the sword broke upon coming into contact with the divine creature. Obelisk growled and pushed its fist forward. The soldier cried out in great pain, but the pain was for only an instant, and then it was gone.

(Yami: 3800, Marik: 200)

"I cannot stand for this!" roared Marik in anger. Before he could say another word, he fell to one knee, clutching his chest in agony. With a deep breath, he got up. Strangely enough, his face had a crazed grin on it. "Fool! Do you not realize that pain is nothing to me?! I invoked the Tournament of Shadows! Its arcane powers cannot harm me!" Suddenly, he pulled a knife from his robes, and stabbed his own hand as Yami watched in shock.

The knife remained there, as drops of blood began to leak out. Then, without a warning, Marik pulled out the knife. For a second, the scene remained as it was. Then, extraordinarily, the drops of blood flared up, and disappeared into Marik's body. The skin sealed itself. Marik's hand looked as good as new.

"Do you understand now?" sneered Marik.

Yami glared back. "A knife is one thing, a direct attack from Obelisk the Tormentor is another. Take your turn so that I can strike you down once more!"

"With pleasure," chuckled Marik, a lopsided grin on his face. He drew as the Cyber End Dragon growled at Obelisk. The divine god of war roared back, clenching its fist. It seemed disappointed that it was unable to strike as much fear in the mechanical creature whose strength was equal to its own as it had wished.

"Your god will fall!" crowed Marik. "Attack with Super Strident Blaze!"

As this final command fell upon the ears of the Cyber End Dragon, each head pointed their open maws towards the Egyptian God Monster that had defeated beasts more powerful then them once before, and in this process began to charge a cannons worth of electrical might that would have devastated an entire army if launched. All seemed to, yet again, grow silent as the triple onslaught of strength prepared to fire...and fire it did.

"But both monsters will be destroyed!" snarled Yami, but stopped when Marik held up another card. It was Rush Recklessly. This would grant Cyber End Dragon seven hundred attack points until the end of the turn… Meaning it was stronger than Obelisk. The God's time was up (4700/2800).

Instead of being propelled like a cannon shot, as had been done previously, this mechanical beast of the heavens sent all of it's grandeur in a sweeping wave of light so powerful that the very earth seemed to quake in trepidation, and in it's turn collapsed upon itself. But this ground was not the target, and even Obelisk knew that it's time had come. Still, the titan reared back and launched one final world-shattering punch, which slammed into the oncoming blast.

"Obelisk, will not, cannot fall!" shouted Yami. "Activate facedown card, Rising Energy! At the cost of a discard from my hand, Obelisk gains fifteen hundred attack points for the duration of the turn. COUNTER WITH FIST OF FATE!" (5500/4000)

The fist of the great god began to glow white with power that had not been seen by mortal men for eons. With a bloodlust filled roar of vengeance, the mighty divine beast pressed forward, and with a single swing of an arm that was the size of a school bus, the futuristic energies of the Cyber End Dragon were sent plummeting back towards their source.

The duel was over.

"NO!" shrieked Marik. "I will not lose! Activate Mystic Wok! By sacrificing Cyber End Dragon, I can gain its attack points as life-points!" Yami's eyes widened as the three-headed dragon glowed as its own attack neared it. With a flash of light, it disappeared, only to be replaced by several wisps of white energy. The wisps entered Marik's body, increasing his energy further.

(Yami: 3800, Marik: 4900)

"Now do you realize the price paid by those who oppose the power of Heaven?" growled Yami, his lean figure gaunt as the shadow of the God of Obelisk fell over his body.

Marik didn't bother to listen. "I will set one card facedown. End turn."

Yami calmly slid the top card off his deck. "The duel is over, Marik. I summon Skilled White Magician (1700/1900)!" A mage in white robes and cloak with a white hood and staff appeared onto the field in an offensive position. On his cloak, there were three half spheres: one on each shoulder, with one on his chest.

"Now, White Magic Burst!" The monster that was to precede the mighty Buster Blader pointed its staff at the villainous man. With a cry, a sphere of snow-white energy was plummeting towards Marik, who gave a shriek of laughter. "Activate Temple of the Darkest God!"

Yami's eyes widened as a titanic black form erupted from the ground in front of Marik. It was a huge structure made of black energy, covered with towers and turrets. Various demons flitted in and out of it all around it, and black mist could be seen around it.

"This card lets me add one monster with 'Ragnarok' in its name, from my deck to my hand. Your battle-phase is immediately ended. But when said monster is summoned, its attack and defense points are set at four thousand, regardless of any effect." The sphere of white energy crashed into the sanctuary of demons, and immediately absorbed. Obelisk growled at the obstruction. Satisfied, Marik found the card in his deck.

"Soon, I will bring about your end, Pharaoh. Now, where were you?"

Yami only growled in response. "End turn."

Marik drew. "I now hold just the cards I need to defeat you, Pharaoh," whispered Marik, a sick smirk on his face. "Just go."

"But of course… Your wish is my command. I play Change of Heart!" The Skilled White Magician suddenly screamed in pain as a dark force took over its mind. It dropped its staff and clutched its head in pain as its heart was torn between loyalty to its master and lust for power. Even as Obelisk gazed at it, one could not help but wonder if those callous blue eyes held a spark of sympathy.

Eventually, Yugi's mage gave up and went over to Marik's field. It looked at Yami and let out a cackle of madness.

"Then I discard the magic card Trial by Hell! Now, I can special summon two Hell Tokens (2000/2000) to the field in attack mode, although they must leave the field within the turn. If not, I lose half my life-points." Two gray fiends appeared. Each one was about five feet tall, with long claws and even longer teeth. They had stumpy wings, and overall resembled gargoyles.

"No way…." gasped Yami. "This is not possible!"

"Oh, believe me it is. I sacrifice my two Hell Tokens and Skilled White Magician to call upon the incomprehensible might of my _RAGNAROK DRAGON_!" The three monsters disappeared, and once again Yami was plagued by sounds of pain and sorrow. Obelisk roared in shock as Marik's field began to glow.

There was a roar. It sounded like it was coming from a time before anything had begun. It was a sound that was coming from a time before Creation. Shadows began to coalesce together and form body parts. Yami watched in horror as the monster finally formed. In an explosion of light, it gained color.

The god was a two hundred and fifty foot long beast. Its sinuous neck snaked out from massive shoulders, with a house-sized head nestled on the neck. Its wings were so large that when they stretched out, it was as if the world was thrown into darkness. Titanic spikes started between its eyes, and continued on to the very tip of its tail. The dragon was golden and blood-red in color, with evil eyes. The hellish maw opened. A roar so loud thundered out that the entire world seemed to shake (4000/4000).

"My Ragnarok Dragon normally has five hundred attack points for every monster in both graveyards, but because of Temple of the Darkest God, he has 'only' four thousand. No matter, it is enough."

Obelisk stared at the Ragnarok Dragon, who stared back. At the same time, the deities roared, the identical sounds vibrating throughout the cosmos. It was a feeling of anticipation for Yami, yet one of terror. Last time, Slifer and Gilgamesh had destroyed one another. But would it be the same next time?

"You see to have forgotten…." said Yami in a deep, reverberating voice. "The effect of your trap card ensured that your monster would never succeed. You do realize, Obelisk is evenly matched with your god of darkness."

Marik's strange grins were gone. They were replaced by a face of pure hatred and arrogance. "Ignorant fool. The strategies of true duelists are never what they seem. For one, I draw one card every time a Hell Token is destroyed. I draw two cards." He chuckled. "I think I will end my turn."

Yami snapped the top card off his deck, and ignored the roars of hatred that the two gods exchanged. One a majestic divine giant…. The other a titanic, devilish heathen of hell.

He knew that the only way to crush a monster with four thousand attack points was to use Obelisk's special ability. By sacrificing two monsters, he would be able to blow away the Ragnarok Dragon and deal Marik four thousand points of damage. This would end the duel no matter what. But he would still have to summon two monsters to do that…

"I set a monster and end my turn," he snarled in frustration. A brown-backed card appeared horizontally on Yami's field, dwarfed by the two gigantic gods.

Marik drew with a look of pure hatred on his face. "I summon Phantom Assassin (1800/1700)!" A monster dressed in black robes appeared. It wore a mask that covered most of its face except its callous, merciless eyes. It held throw-knives in both hands, and had a katana strapped to its back.

"Then I play Gift of the Martyr." The assassin disappeared as quickly as he appeared, and the Ragnarok Dragon growled in satisfaction. A wisp of black mist was absorbed by it, and its attack points went through the roof, to the point where it far surpassed Obelisk (5800/4000).

"Unacceptable, Marik!" shot back Yami. "I activate Book of Taiyou, which allows me to flip my facedown Dark Blade (1800/1500) into attack mode." A figure dressed in pitch-black armor and a cloak seemed to emerge from the darkness of the Shadow Realm, and he strode forward to stand in front of Shadow Blake. From beneath his cloak, he produced two massive swords, with each of his hands carrying one of them. There was an opening on the face of his helmet, but even his eyes could not be made out.

"Then I activate my facedown Covering Fire! This will grant Obelisk Dark Blade's attack points for the duration of the turn."

The warrior pointed a blade at the god, who roared in satisfaction as its power soared to a point where it was equal to Obelisk in strength (5800/4000).

"Continue, Marik."

Marik shrugged. "Very well. Ragnarok Dragon, destroy Dark Blade with DARKNESS DIVINITY BURST!"

The titanic dragon threw back its head, and a multi-colored orb that reflected a thousand faucets of light began to appear in its mouth. With a roar, it let out the blast in full force.

The dark warrior was hit head on, and it didn't even get a chance to scream out in agony as it began to shatter into an uncountable number of microscopic pixels. Yami watched in sadness as it was worse than obliterated, as its very essence was dragged into the abyss, never to be seen again.

"End turn." Obelisk's attack strength fell back down to its original four thousand.

Before Yami could draw, Marik interrupted. "Phantom Assassin lets me draw two card in the end phase of the turn it was destroyed, but I must discard my hand during my next end phase." He now held a grand total of six cards.

Yami drew, and a look of determination crossed his eyes, all of a sudden. "I play Trap Booster! This lets me activate trap cards from my hand. I play Return from the Different Dimension! Since you removed from play Cyber Dragon and Dark Templar Swordsman to summon your Black Luster Soldier, I will special summon them to my field, at the mere cost of half my life-points."

The silver, snake-like dragon with a long neck and tail (2100/1600) and the armored swordsman with a broadsword in hand (2550/1600) both materialized onto the ancient Pharaoh's field. They looked up at the gargantuan blue giant in awe.

(Yami: 1900, Marik: 4900)

"No…" whispered Marik.

"Oh yes," roared Yami. "Obelisk, I offer these monsters as sacrifices! Take up their strength and strike down this foul enemy who has attempted to usurp the divine power of you and your kin! Activate, special ability…"

The blue creature reached out and took hold of both the weaker creatures. Holding one in each hand, his hands began to glow white as the creatures were dissolved. Within seconds, both monsters were gone, leaving a powerful blue creature with brightly glowing red eyes. In moments, the creature's body began to glow with red light as his skin changed from blue to red. With a mighty roar, the creature glared at Marik and the Ragnarok Dragon. The latter seemed a bit disoriented at the sudden leap in power of its rival, and gave a feeble roar.

"Now, Obelisk will wipe out your Ragnarok Dragon and deal you four thousand points of damage. FIST OF FURY!"

Bringing both fists up directly in front of his body, the red creatures fists began to glow bright red. Energy formed at the fists, each swirling. With deadly precision, the red creature released his twin blasts, which swirled into one large blast. Marik did not seem worried, even as he was about to be struck down by a power that could not be stopped by the mighty God of the Orichalcos.

"FOOL! I ACTIVATE RAGNAROK DRAGON'S ABILITY! BY DISCARDING MY HAND, EVERY CARD ON THE FIELD AND IN BOTH OUR HANDS IS DESTROYED!"

Yami froze, and he noticed a small red dot in the Ragnarok Dragon's mouth. The dark god of Apocalypse opened its mouth wider, and the dot expanded. Soon, it was a blazing, blood red sphere of dark energy that encompassed its entire maw. Obelisk roared in shock at the new development, even as the Ragnarok Dragon let lose the flare of unholy power straight in the direction of the god of light.

The two blasts connected in mid-air, and for a second, every living being within a three mile radius was blinded. Not blinded by light, but by darkness. The aura that was given out by Obelisk's purplish black blast and the Ragnarok Dragon's pure red one was disconcerting, to say the least.

Yami watched in awe as the two gods struggled for supremacy, the duelist's experienced mind working out the result. Obviously, both of their effects would resolve. It would leave the field and both their hands empty, and both players would be left top decking. But which would succeed…. That was to be seen later.

The battle between the Ragnarok Dragon and Obelisk the Tormentor was not yet to be concluded. The two continued on, struggling for victory, the Ragnarok Dragon flapping its titanic wings harder and harder, and Obelisk's shoulder muscles now the size of mountains. The sheer exertion was causing even the divine deities to tire.

It had gone on too long. Both were unable to win. With a roar, Obelisk poured every single erg of energy into the attack, and send it plummeting towards the dragon, who let lose whatever dark energy was present in its body in the form on one, single, deadly blast. The two met in the middle of the field, and formed a small sphere of black energy. As they both poured power into it, the sphere expanded until it formed a dome over the entire field.

Yami generated a shield with his Millennium Puzzle, but even his mighty energies were unable to block out the view of the ensuing battle. He heard two, final, simultaneous roars of hatred and pride, before they were consumed. Everything was drowned out by the dome, and Yami bitterly slipped his cards into the graveyard.

The dome slowly began to clear, revealing a gasping Marik. The blood was drained from his face, leaving it pale and deathly. Yami could see the pain and shock that the man was going through, and for a second, he hoped that it would cause him to pass out. But it was not to be so. The villain straightened up, and the Rod glowed a bit, as if showing that its master would still fight.

(Yami: 1900, Marik: 900)

"This is not over…. Pharaoh. Not by a long shot."

"Do your worst," hissed Yami.

"I will. Now, unless I'm much mistaken, it was still your turn." Yami nodded, his face the epitome of exhaustion. He had been forced to discard his entire hand, leaving him with nothing. Neither of them had anything on the field. "Obviously, I will end my turn." If Marik drew a Gene-Warped Warwolf, the duel was over.

"My move," said Marik, drawing a card. He looked at it in disgust. "Damn it… Just my luck. I'll set this card and end my turn." The card appeared vertically in front of Marik.

Yami drew. A dead draw. "I set this card facedown and end my turn," he sighed.

Marik draw, and grinned. "Perfect. I summon the deadly Black Inferno Cannon (1700/1700)!" A strange robot appeared on Marik's field. It was made of pitch black metal, and instead of a right arm, it had a massive cannon, one that looked capable of destroying a building. There was a small antenna on its head.

"Black Inferno Cannon, attack him with Artillery Destruction!" The robot buzzed, as information was sent to it through its antenna. It steadied itself, and let lose a sphere of blazing red fire at the mighty Pharaoh, who growled in anger. He crossed his arms as the attack slammed into him. His very essence felt like it was burning as he struggled to not scream. He was successful in the end, but barely.

(Yami: 200, Marik: 900)

"Do you realize you cannot defeat me?" said Marik softly. "Surrender now, and you will be spared inconceivable agony. If you give in, you will simply be negated from existence by the shadows, but if you continue this hopeless battle, you will face my wrath. Far more merciful to take the easy way out."

Yami replied in a ragged voice. "Shut up and make your move."

Marik was disconcerted by his opponent's resolve. "I see you wish to inflict pain upon yourself. Very well, I will not stop you. End turn."

Yami closed his eyes as he drew. He knew that with two hundred life-points, and a highly situational facedown card, he would not survive if he didn't draw a card stronger than the Black Inferno Cannon. He was a good top decker, but so was Marik.

He drew, and disappointment fell over his eyes. It was really the end. "I play Dian Keto the Cure Master. I gain one thousand life-points." It was all he could do, after all.

(Yami: 1200, Marik: 900)

Marik drew, and sneered at Yami. "This is the end. Artillery Destruction." Yami closed his eyes as the robot let lose the fireball once again. This was it. Everything depended on one facedown card. If it didn't work, then Marik won the Tournament of Shadows, as well as Yami's three god cards and the Millennium Puzzle.

"This duel is far from over, Marik! Activate facedown trap card….. _Reverse of Reverse_!" A card depicting a man opening a treasure chest with a worried expression on his face flipped up. Marik's face hardened, and Yami's eyes blazed.

"A very situational card. If you have no cards in your hand and field, you can activate my facedown spells and traps as if they were your own. The question is, will destiny favor you and allow you to activate a card on my field that will save you?"

Their eyes met, Yami's glowing. "Yes, destiny is on my side! ACTIVATE!" Reverse of Reverse began to glow. It fired out a small beam of yellow energy at the facedown card. "_Is this really the true determination of whose side destiny is on_?" thought Yami in wonder, as Marik's card began to flip face up.

It was a card depicting a large totem pole letting lose a sonic wave of sound. Command Silencer.

"I think that should be enough to show who destiny is really favoring," smirked Yami. Marik howled in anger as the totem pole appeared on Yami's field, and a sonic wave echoed through the field. Unable to continue, the Black Inferno Cannon returned to Marik's field.

"Plus, the effect of Command Silencer allows me to draw a card." Marik just growled as Yami drew one more card.

"Fine. I end my turn."

"My move," declared Yami, as he drew, giving him two cards in his hand. "_I don't have a monster strong enough to beat the Black Inferno Cannon. Plus, I can't be sure if it doesn't have any kind of effect. I'll play defensively for now_."

"I set this one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Marik drew angrily. "Black Inferno Cannon, destroy his monster!" The robot let lose a sphere of fire once again, and as it plummeted towards the brown-backed card image, it flipped over to reveal a large octagon like building with a doorway in the front part of the building that was open, revealing the inside had several levels. At each level was a shelf, which incased many books. Also on the levels, there was a piece of flooring sticking out with a place to stand, as well as a table for sitting at. The flooring was held up by green spheres, which appeared to be small antigravity engines, which kept the flooring aloft.

The sphere impacted into one of the shelves, and was absorbed. One of the books sprang out and hit the robot on the head, knocking it backwards.

"Royal Magical Library (0/2000) is a bit too strong for your mechanical monstrosity to destroy," chuckled Yami, folding his arms.

(Yami: 1200, Marik: 600)

"Very well," growled Marik. "I end my turn."

Yami drew, and mentally groaned. Still no monster. He just hoped that Royal Magical Library would last long enough against the veritable armada of deadly creatures that was still in Marik's deck.

"End turn."

Marik drew. This was lasting too long. "Make your move, Pharaoh," he groaned.

The ancient King of Egypt snapped the top card of his deck, and silently sighed in satisfaction as he saw that he would be able to pick up the pace again. I summon Silent Swordsman LV3 (1000/1000)!" he yelled, throwing the card onto his duel disk. The medium-sized, turquoise-skinned, red-eyed blonde swordsman with a blue helmet-like pirate's hat leapt into play. He donned his silver-buttoned, blue jacket with silver and blue shoulder pads, as well as blue, cape-like pants with the silver stripe. He had a silver belt on, with the center containing a capital "S" on it. He wore blue boots with a silver-lined center, containing light-silver bullet marks on them. With his right, white-gloved hand, he gripped onto a thick, gray buster sword, holding it forward.

"What a pathetic monster!" scoffed Marik. "One thousand attack points? Please tell me this is some stupid joke on your part."

"It's no joke, Marik. You see, Silent Swordsman may seem weak at first, but soon he will grow into a monster far more powerful. I play a second Level Up! This magic card will allow Silent Swordsman LV3 to transform into his far more powerful form. Meet Silent Swordsman LV5 (2300/1000)!"

Silent Swordsman started to rise in stature, gaining nearly more than twice his original height, with his clothes expanding with him. The buster sword he held glowed, growing nearly to the size of the warrior himself, though being much thicker. It also had a double handle at the bottom, being able to be held in two different positions. Circular, wheel-like silver pieces divided the separate handles. Silent Swordsman pulled his buster sword in front of himself and held it up triumphantly (2300/1000).

"It's exactly six hundred points stronger than your Black Inferno Cannon, and last time I checked, you had but six hundred life-points…" Yami trailed off, a wide grin on his face.

"No! I will not lose! Activate magic card, Spell Textbook!" Yami gasped as the glowing books appeared on his opponent's field. This was a move he had pulled off himself many times, mostly with a great deal of success. Would Marik be able to do the same?

"Now, I must pick up the top card of my deck. If it is a magic card, it is activated. If not, it is sent to the graveyard." He picked up the top of the deck and held it up. It glowed for a moment, before Marik looked at it. It was the Card of Sanctity.

Yami shrugged as he drew until he held six cards. Marik did the same. Had the villain drawn a card to stop Silent Swordsman LV5? It was the worth the risk of attacking. After all, if the attack was successful, it was a perfect opportunity to end the godforsaken duel.

"Attack with Sword of Silence Level Five!" The warrior lunged towards the Black Inferno Cannon, which had its arms crossed in defense. Raising its sword, the swordsman was about to cleave right through the robotic menace, when Marik shrieked with laughter. "Activate Book of Moon! Your Silent Swordsman LV5 will not be affected, but I can flip Black Inferno Cannon facedown!"

The robot was just replaced by a facedown card image before the swordsman sliced it in half.

"Now, its effect activates! I can special summon all other copies of 'Black Inferno Cannon' from my deck to the field, in defense mode." Two more, black, cannon-wielding robots appeared on Marik's field, with there arms crossed (1700/1700) (x2).

"Fine," growled Yami. "I set a card and end my turn."

Marik drew, and laughed. "Time for the duel to begin again! I sacrifice both of these monsters for the mighty and deadly Maju Garzett (?/0)!" A tall, near-skeletal-looking fiend, with a body that was mixed with hair, skin, and bone appeared on the field. It had a sort of skull-like armor covering its body, but its dark underside could be seen, and it only caused those who looked at it to feel a little sick. Its eyes looked almost lifeless, and a pair of horns protruded from its skull.

"Maju Garzett has attack points equal to the combined attack points of the sacrificed monsters." He smirked nastily as the deadly fiend's attack points went through the roof (3400/0).

"With this, I could reduce your life-points to one hundred. But that's not my plan. First, I need to feel a bit healthier. I play another Mystic Wok, sacrificing Maju Garzett to gain thirty-four hundred life-points!" The disgusting demon disappeared, and Marik gave a sigh of satisfaction as his life-points soared, leaving Yami's far behind in the dust.

(Yami: 1200, Marik: 4000)

"Hmm… I set one card facedown and end my turn."

Yami drew. "Marik… This ends now. I activate my facedown Graceful Charity!" He drew three cards, and selected two of them. With a grin, he slammed them into his graveyard. "I play Monster Reborn, to revive my mighty Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

A flaming pentagram instantly formed onto the field with smoke coming out of the middle of it. Rising slowly in the middle of the pentagram was a mage with black tight fitting armor, wearing a strange mage's hat, and held a long black staff in his right hand. His skin color was blue, and he had some black markings. While rising up, his eyes remained closed. Finally fully on the field, the mage opened his eyes, revealing yellow corneas with red irises. Upon opening his eyes, the flames extinguished, seemingly showing his strength.

"Impressive," mused Marik.

"Now, I can take one magic card from my graveyard and add it to my hand. I choose De-Fusion!" Marik raised an eyebrow. "De-Fusion? Why that? Its an incredibly useless card. There aren't even fusions on the field!"

"Then I sacrifice The Light – Hex Sealed Fusion (1000/1600) and Buster Blader (2600/2300) from my hand, to call upon the Dark Paladin (2900/2400)!"

Marik only watched in disdains as they watched the boulder like monster with light pouring off it's body and a purple warrior with a large lance on it's back appear on the field. The two then began to swirl together, causing a black sphere to appear. The sphere touched down on the ground, and then finally dissipated to reveal a new mage. He had blue skin, long grey hair which was flowing out of his odd shaped helmet, and red eyes. He wore powerful looking blue armor with orange stripes all over it, and held a large magical staff that had a lance like sword on the top of it.

"Since there are no dragons in your graveyard, he doesn't get his power boost. But you see, that was not my plan."

Marik narrowed his eyes. "I play De-Fusion, to split Dark Paladin into Buster Blader and The Light – Hex Sealed Fusion!" The paladin glowed for a moment, and was then replaced by the purple warrior with its gigantic lance, and the boulder-like monster (2600/2300) (1000/1600).

"Now, I have three monsters on my field," smirked Yami. Marik almost exploded. "What is the point of this?!"

"I haven't used my normal summon yet," hinted Yami, as he carefully picked another card out of his hand.

It hit Marik. "NO! IT CAN'T BE!"

The three monsters were all absorbed by a ray of light, and the Shadow Realm began to tremble around them. Marik knew that for the second time in his life, he would have to face what he once considered to be his ultimate monster.

"I summon the WINGED DRAGON OF RA (?/0)!"

In the place of Yami's three monsters now was summoned a golden orb, which seemed to have some kind of feather design upon it. And Marik could feel a primordial force emanating from its depths. Every second that passed the energy grew stronger, and the light was directly proportional to that strength.

"Now…. I must recite the ancient text necessary to call upon the ultimate god of light." Yami took a breath.

"_Mighty protector of the sun and sky,_

_Please hear my cry,_

_Unlock thyself from orb of light,_

_And bring me victory in this fight._"

The ancient containment began to shift itself in reaction, and Marik roared in anger, unable to swallow what was happening.

"_Envelop the desert in your glow,_

_And cast your rage upon my foe._

_Unlock your power from deep within,_

_So that we may together win._"

The orb was now enveloped in light so bright, that the ancient villain was forced to cover his eyes.

"_But first, I will call out thy name._

_I beg of thee,_

_Please grace our humble game._

_WINGED DRAGON OF RA!_"

And now, the Orb of Ra cracked, each individual component shattering and tumbling to the ground, dissipating as it happened, to reveal the third, and final, Egyptian God Monster.

When the light the Orb emitted finally died down, the avatar of the gods was revealed to be another massive dragon, but one much different from that of Slifer. Instead, the spirit of this beast of destruction was sealed in bright golden armor, with massive eagle wings spreading out behind it, and a set of three-taloned claws that once tore through the flesh of Apep. A similar set of claws served as the feet of this creature, while a lashing golden tail brought up the rear. (6400/5500).

"This ends now, Marik!" roared Yami. "End this, with your mighty Blaze Cannon!"

Letting out a massive roar, an arch of the dragon's back began glowing brightly. Slowly, a large golden sphere of energy began forming within the arch. The energy soon began to go down wire like structures into the dragon's mouth, causing a powerful golden glow to begin forming. Opening it's jaws fully, the dragon spat the energy blast from it's jaws, sending a golden beam straight at Marik.

"NO! I activate my facedown Hyper Refresh. When your monster has more attack points then my life-points, just before a direct attack, I can double my life-points!"

Yami's eyes shot open in shock as Marik's life-points hit their starting level just before the divine energy blast slammed into him.

He raised his arms in an attempt to block the attack, and summoned the power of the Millennium Rod as well, in order to generate a shield. It was a quite useless, however. The blast threw him back against the railing, and he was completely eclipsed by the column of light.

When the attack finally dissipated, Yami could see a smoldering form lying on the ground. He heard a grunt, as Marik slowly raised himself. Ra growled, furious that this infidel dared to deny its will.

(Yami: 1200, Marik: 1600)

"This will end sooner or later, Marik!" yelled out Yami. "With Ra on the field, there is no way for you to win."

He heard a hollow laugh. "On the contrary, Pharaoh… The fact that you summoned Ra sealed my victory."

"You're bluffing," snapped Yami. "I end my turn."

Marik's battered form was fully exposed as the smoke cleared. His cloak was in tatters, and he had cuts and bruises all over his body. He didn't seem to care. "Activate, Magic Shard Excavation. I discard one Repayment of Losses, and another card, to bring back Renewal of Triplets. He drew one card, and found the designated magic card in his graveyard.

"Next, I activate it. I choose to revive my three Black Inferno Cannons (1700/1700) (x3)!" The three, black robots appeared on Yami's field, all three glowing with dark energy.

Yami realized what was happening, and he heard Ra growl in anticipation of what was to come. "You're summoning it…. Aren't you? The Destroyer?"

"Very perceptive, Pharaoh." Marik paused, and there was silence. He then spoke in a voice that carried all the authority of Fate itself, with his index finger pointed at Yami, and his hand curled into a spiny fist.

"_Arise… Anubis, Destroyer of Gods_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**These two chapters have taken up forty-eight turns. Can you believe it? It may not be as long as the duel against Dartz, but its gonna be the wildest ride you've ever had from here on out.**

**Next chapter shows you the power of the greatest dark Egyptian God.**

**REVIEW!!**


	46. Anubis, Destroyer of Gods

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE: Anubis, Destroyer of Gods

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE: Anubis, Destroyer of Gods

**Metal Overlord 2.0: If you thought that was intense, wait till you read this. Yeah, I thought near misses like that would add to the intensity of the duel. You might end up expecting the result of the duel, but believe me, I am going to end this fic in a way that no one will understand. At least not until the sequel.. Heh heh… Btw, have you enjoyed my joint fic with Illidan the Half Demon, Minutes to Midnight?**

**Mystralwind: Nah, I'm never going to use profanity in my fics. The worst I'm willing to go is 'crap'. But other than that, it's a no-no in my books. I do appreciate the comment about that paragraph. Meh, Seto is the coolest good guy in YGO, and I'd say that's about it. If you're talking about villains, you have so many…. But hey, you never know how I could end the duel.**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Read on, dear reader, and find out.**

**Mysticlife: Level B? I've never heard of a card like that. Check the name again. Anyway, thanks for the comments.**

**SolarMoon59: Thanks a lot. Sorry about that… LOL**

Marik's eyes opened to reveal crimson irises, brimming with hatred. "You will face true power now, Pharaoh," he hissed. The three robots disappeared into a column of darkness in the center of Marik's field, which began to expand in width. It seemed to disappear far into the clouds.

"_This is it…_" thought Yami. "_The monster that can bring about the destruction of reality. The mightiest dark god_."

Yami's face was locked into permanent determination, his deep violet eyes not even phased by the sudden windstorm that had picked up around them. "This is the dark god that caries the essence of Anubis," whispered Marik, as the column of shadows began to crackle with black electricity.

"A monster that makes even the Ragnarok Dragon and Gilgamesh the Chaos Warrior look weak. Show yourself, Destroyer!" The massive column replied with a deathly roar. The very dimension shook at this, and Yami knew that this was a beast unlike the other two dark gods. The very sound of it roaring made it seem like it was coming from a mouth large enough to swallow reality.

Slowly, the column began to decrease in size. Its top descended from the heavens and came to rest about eighty feet above the ground. The darkness began to take shape, tendrils of shadows weaving their way through the air until they had taken a definite shape. It was one that Yami recognized.

The Destroyer of Gods was a massive winged-jackal began to rise from the sands. Its build was as massive as Obelisk the Tormentor, with black scales. A massive horn grew out of its head, and two huge wings extended from its shoulders. It was glowing with a deathly aura, and seemed to give off the overwhelming feeling of hatred. Just like its kin, the other two dark gods, this unholy beast of death had piercing, blood red eyes that seemed to contain pure viciousness and absolute hatred. This was the true demon form of the Pharaoh's long time nemesis. (4000/4000)

Anubis roared at the Egyptian God of the Sun. The roar was one that could not be easily forgotten. Ra, however, was unfazed by the challenge, and let lose a screech in answer.

"What kind of monstrosity is this?" whispered Yami, more to himself than anyone.

Marik picked it up though. "This, Pharaoh… This is the beast with the ability to slay divine beings. Its sheer power is inconceivable. It was born of the innermost part of Anubis' essence, and is essentially the same being as him. You see, each part was born from a different part of your nemesis."

He held up three fingers. "Gilgamesh the Chaos Warrior. The Body of Darkness. It was born of Anubis' sheer power, his exceptional ability to use Shadow magic, and even his physical strength. All of these were melded into a single entity, resulting in Gilgamesh. The sheer diversity of Anubis' strength resulted in the Lord of Chaos." He dropped one finger, leaving his index finger and middle finger.

"Ragnarok Dragon. The Soul of Darkness. It was the result of the melding of Anubis' passion for destruction. His love for genocide, his sadism, and his sheer potential for mass destruction resulted in this beast that was meant to one day bring ruin to humanity." He dropped his middle finger, leaving only his index finger.

"Anubis, Destroyer of Gods. The Heart of Darkness. It is the embodiment, strangely, of Anubis' most human and primal emotions. His hatred for you, Pharaoh, is the primary one among them. Not to mention his greed for power, and his love of death. But most of all, was his fear." Marik nodded at Yami's confused look.

"Yes, his fear… His fear of the uncomprehendable might of the Egyptian Gods." Yami frowned at this, but kept silent as Marik continued. "He was unable to conquer them during your battle with him. Yes, I was restraining his power in order for his supposed defeat to become apparent, but I didn't expect it to be so easy. Deep down, in his heart of hearts, he knew that at his maximum strength, the forces of Light would withstand his might. But this fear, mixed with all his other negative emotions, was turned into a hatred so powerful, that it was able to escape the bounds of power. This pure loathing has conquered the boundaries of logic, and has allowed this dark god the unique ability that will be displayed to you."

He glared at Ra. "Now, Anubis. Howl of God Crusher!" Anubis roared, and Ra seemed to actually tremble. Yes, the mightiest of Yami's monsters actually seemed afraid. A stream of black flames escaped its terrible maw, and sped straight towards the Winged Dragon of Ra. Yami watched in terror as the flames came in contact with the dragon's golden armor, causing it to howl in pain. Slowly, the gold began to melt. Yami simply stared in sadness as its entire body simply disappeared.

The dimension did not even seem to notice the death of the god. It seemed like what Anubis did was part of a new reality, one in which the destruction of gods was caused by this unholy being of death.

"When Anubis is summoned, he destroys one divine or divine-beast monster on the field, and also absorbs their attack and defense points." Anubis' rather non-descript body began to glow with black flames, as they licked its scales. It gave another howl, and its attack points went through the roof. (10400/9500)

"What kind of insane effect is that?" gasped Yami.

"It's over, Pharaoh," whispered Marik. "Direct attack."

Once again, the towering dark god unleashed another stream of jet black flames at the Pharaoh, who simply stared into the blast as if his destruction meant nothing. "DIE!" shrieked Marik, jubilant at the final death of his age-old enemy. "_Finally, my time has come… The world will bow before me, the true Pharaoh of Egypt_!" These were his thoughts as Yami was swallowed up by the unholy wave of destruction.

"At last…. Victory… Its mine, its all mine!" Marik burst out into creepy laughter as the flames continued to lick Yami's side of the field, which was completely wreathed in smoke. He burst out into insane laughter, falling to his knees and wringing his fists in wild happiness.

As the smoke began to clear, he was aware of a figure still standing. "It… It can't be!" he gasped, standing up in shock. Finally, the smoke completely disappeared to reveal Yami, standing proud and tall with a grim smile on his face. In his hand was a single card depicting a small furball.

"Kuriboh (300/200)?!" snarled Marik, and Yami replied with a grim nod. "Damn you, Pharaoh! Your disgusting fuzzball will only protect you for one turn. You will fall to the wrath of the Slayer of Gods! Then I will claim your God cards, _and_ your Puzzle, meaning I will then reign as the eternal ruler of Egypt!"

Yami smirked. "You'll have to end your turn before you do that." Marik spat his contempt, and just gave a flick of his head to show he was willing to end his turn.

Yami drew. "I play the magic card, Coins from Heaven! This only activates if Card of Sanctity is in either graveyard, and I can then draw until I hold six cards. However, Marik, this does not apply to you!" The dark villain frowned as Yami increased his hand size to six, giving him far more to work with.

"Hmm…. I am forced to set a monster in defense mode. End turn." A brown-backed card appeared, dwarfed by the Destroyer of Gods. Anubis' demon form growled in contempt of the new arrival, evidently stating that the monster was unworthy of being in its presence.

"DESTROY IT!"

Roaring loudly once more, the beast that was destined to destroy the heavens opened it's jaws and shot out a stream of unholy black flames at the horizontal card. Upon reaching the card, it activated and flipped up, showing a young mage with blond hair that stuck straight up, wearing a set of purple robes that covered most of his body, and the mage had a green staff in his hands. The mage screamed in pain as it was damned to hell by the insane power of the blast.

"Good job Marik, you just activated my Apprentice Magician's (400/800) special ability. I can now set another level two or lower spellcaster on the field." He quickly found the card in his deck, and placed it facedown on his Duel Disk.

"You will fall, Pharaoh, sooner or later!" shouted Marik. Yami could see the frustration in his eyes; the villain was furious that even with his ultimate beast of darkness on the field, his nemesis was finding away to avoid defeat.

"I set a card and end my turn."

Yami drew, and smirked. "I sacrifice my facedown monster for the Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!"

Lightning suddenly struck the field without warning, and from it came a demon like creature made of white bone with red muscle surrounding most of its body. Its hands had three claws, its feet the same way, and on it's back were a pair of blue wings. The head of the creature had a pair of horns, and looked mostly like a skull.

"Bah!" spat Marik in anger. "It's no match for Anubis! You wasted your time!" As if to punctuate his words, the titanic, divine jackal roared, and the normally aggressive fiend actually looked afraid. That was the power of Anubis.

"That's not my plan… I play Metamorphosis! This allows me to sacrifice a monster on my field to special summon a fusion monster with the same level or lower." The horned fiend shrieked in pain as agony wracked its unearthly nerves. Its bones jutted out of its body, letting blood leak out. The entire thing seemed to dissolve into nothingness, and another monster appeared.

A purple glow had formed on the field. Slowly, rising from the glow was a warrior holding a flame orange sword dressed in black robes outlined with red. In his left hand was a shield with flaming designs. His helmet was in the design of a dragon's scaly head, with flame red designs burned in along the black. The only skin to be seen was his face and hands, which were uncovered.

"Dark Flare Knight (2200/800)!" said Yami triumphantly. "What a pathetic excuse for a monster! I've seen scarier things coming out of Dartz's hair! Do you honestly believe that your so-called knight can fell the power that has crushed the Winged Dragon of Ra?"

Yami ignored him. "Attack now!"

The warrior leapt into the air, drawing its sword. Continuing on, the black robed knight struck the towering god with is sword, only to have it shatter. While falling backwards, Anubis roared loudly, furious at the infidel that dared to defy the power of the one who conquered the Sun God. It released a stream of flames at the warrior, making him cry out in pain before vanishing from sight.

"This duel is over, over for you that is, Yami," said Marik smugly. Then he noticed Yami's untouched life-points. "WHAT?!" he shouted in fury. "My monster was eight-four hundred points stronger than yours! You should have lost the instant they came in contact!"

Yami shook his head. "When Dark Flare Knight is destroyed, I take zero battle damage. Also, I can special summon another monster from my deck. You'll find out who he is in just a minute…" Yami slapped the card to his Duel Disk, a golden armored knight with a blue cape, large golden shoulder pads, a golden helmet that covered all but his mouth, and a large sickle like weapon in hand appeared onto the field.

"Mirage Knight (2800/2000)!" exclaimed Yami. Marik shook his head. "It's six hundred points stronger than your last monster. What makes you think it will have any more success defeating the strongest of the dark gods?"

"This!" shouted Yami, fed up of Marik's constant criticism. "When it attacks, it gains the attack points of its target! Illusion Nova!" The demon god released a stream of flames straight at the oncoming knight. The flames soon neared the knight, who did a barrel roll, escaping the flames. The knight then began to glow white and accelerated in speed straight for the gigantic jackal.

Marik clenched his fist as the Mirage Knight (2800 + 10400 13200/2000) slammed its scythe into Anubis' side. "Even if you somehow protect your monster, then the game is over anyway!" said Yami triumphantly.

"Is it?!" snarled Marik. "What if I activate my facedown Shrink, which slices your Mirage Knight's attack points in half!" Yami gasped as the golden knight glowed, and suddenly seemed to half in size (13200 / 2 6600/2000)

"It's over, Yami!" shrieked Marik as Anubis simply used a single, massive paw to flick the comparatively weak knight away. The massive talons sliced through its armor, and it fell to the ground, barely conscious. As Anubis began to power up some flames in its mouth, the injured knight desperately tried to get out of the way. But in its weakened state, it was unable to do so. It simply stared helplessly into the oncoming abyss of death.

"I am sorry, Mirage Knight…" whispered Yami, as he held up another card. It was Mystic Wok. The knight smiled up at its master, and spoke in a deep voice. "_I would prefer to die an honorable death serving you, Master, then fall to this heathen in unfair combat_."

He just disappeared as Anubis' attack hit the ground where he had been, leaving a scorch mark.

(Yami: 7800, Marik: 1600)

Yami bit his lip. "I set a card and end my turn."

"My move," declared Marik, drawing a card. His hand size was now at four. "Attack him directly!" Yami smirked, even as the black-scaled god opened its maw and let lose a torrent of shimmering black fire. The attack soared towards Yami, threatening to burn him to cinders, just before he pressed a button on his Duel Disk.

"Go, Soul Shield!" A purple barrier appeared around Yami, and the flames crashed into it. After a minute of attempting to burn through the barrier, the flames dissipated. "At the cost of half my life-points, I negated your attack and ended your battle phase," chuckled Yami.

Marik frowned, and ended his turn with a facedown. Anubis roared in frustration.

(Yami: 3900, Marik: 1600)

Yami drew, and a smirk formed on his face. "I play Painful Choice." He found five specific cards from his deck, and showed them to Marik. They were two Repayment of Losses, Apprentice Magician (400/800, A Second Chance, and also Emergence from the Netherworld.

Marik frowned. Repayment of Losses and A Second Chance would both allow him to draw, and he had no idea why he would want Apprentice Magician. Emergence from the Netherworld would allow him to normal summon a monster from my his graveyard, but with no monsters on the field, it would be useless. However, if he did draw more cards, there was also the chance of him decking out. Apprentice Magician would serve as a further defense…

"Keep Emergence from the Netherworld," said Marik finally. Yami grinned, and sent the other four to his graveyard. He drew two cards, thanks to Repayment of Losses. "I then remove A Second Chance from play, and draw two more cards." Yami's hand size increased to eight.

"Then I play Renewal of Triplets, to special summon all three Apprentice Magicians (400/800) (x3) to the field, from my graveyard."

The three blonde magicians appeared, dressed in their characteristic purple outfits. They shirked away in fear upon seeing the mighty god that was Anubis. Marik roared with laughter. "How pathetic! You choose to match my dark god with these three useless monsters!"

Suddenly, it dawned on him. "I see… You intend to bring back another snack for Anubis?"

Yami's face contorted with anger. "Do not presume to insult the true gods of Egypt. You will pay for your insolence! I play Emergence from the Netherworld, sacrificing all three of my Apprentice Magicians to _normal_ summon Slifer the Sky Dragon!" Marik folded his arms in disdain as the three monsters disappeared in a flash of light.

The mighty pinions of the dragon came out to darken the playing field, while at the same time it's two golden eyes scanned the arena, wise yet brutal in combat. From both of its double maws there was a constant rumbling, like the onset of contained thunder, ready and willing to strike out at any moment. Its great coils throbbed and undulated with every spasm of it's sinewy muscles, which were wrapped around the Empire State Building (6000/6000).

It roared at Anubis. The Destroyer returned the challenge in kind.

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn," said Yami confidently. The facedown cards appeared, and Slifer growled as its strength fell (4000/4000).

"My move," growled Marik. "Ah… Perfect. Now, I will show you another of Anubis' abilities! By discarding a card from his hand, I can destroy one divine or divine-beast monster on the field. Blow away Slifer the Sky Dragon with Howl of God Crusher!" Once again, the titanic jackal roared and let lose a torrent of hellish black fire at the dragon god.

Slifer did not take kindly to this, and responded with a mighty blaze of golden energy at the Destroyer. The two attacks clashed in mid-air, letting lose thousands if not millions of ergs of power. But both duelists knew that the struggle was but one of display. Anubis' effect could not be denied…. Or could it?

"I activate my facedown Magical Trick Mirror, which allows me to use one magic card in your graveyard as if it were one of my own…. I choose the one and only Monster Reborn!" The holy ankh appeared on Yami's field, and Marik scoffed. "Which monster could you possibly want to revive?"

Yami found the card in his graveyard, and held it up. "Arise…. Mighty Winged Dragon of Ra (0/0)!"

A golden glow began to fill the Yami's Graveyard slot. Without warning, a brilliant golden light flooded the field. From the light, the massive golden metal dragon came from it. Its massive wings spread, and it stretched its body out. Glaring down at Marik, it let out a massive roar, seemingly shaking the dimension.

"How worthless!" crowed Marik. "It may seem worthless now, but what if I activate my trap card, Shift?" Suddenly, Slifer and Anubis ceased their attacks. The Destroyer turned to glare at Ra, which growled softly. With another roar, a burst of black energy was soaring towards the God of the Sun.

"Now, Marik, I'm sure you are very familiar with this… Activate, Egyptian God Phoenix!" With a mighty roar, the powerful dragon began glowing brightly. Cracks formed within it's metallic armor causing blinding golden light to flood through them. The temperature began to go through the roof.

Realization dawned on Marik's face, as Yami's life-points fell by one thousand.

(Yami: 2900, Marik: 1600)

Roaring loudly, the dragon glowed even brighter, causing the temperature to increase even more. Without warning, the metal skin covering the dragon blew off of the dragon's body, revealing flames. The flames formed a large fire ball for a few moments before the form of a massive phoenix came out. With a mighty screech, the phoenix beat its wings to make it lift higher into the air. The mighty phoenix let out yet another screech at Anubis.

"Now, Anubis will fall as well," sneered Yami.

The flaming phoenix roared, and took off towards Anubis. The black energy crashed into it, but Ra began to push through it.

"Since both their effects go through, both gods will fall," said Yami confidently, as Slifer growled at the confrontation.

"No!" snarled Marik. "Activate, Seal of the God! This will negate the effects of all god cards on the field, and also allow both of us to draw two cards." Yami gasped in shock as a barrier of shining energy appeared between the demon jackal and the flaming phoenix. Try as they might, they were unable to break through. They roared for a minute, before returning to their respective fields.

The phoenix formed into a sphere of flames once more and emitted a brilliant golden light. The light finally died, revealing the powerful golden dragon once more.

As Yami drew two more cards, Slifer glowed, and roared at Marik as its attack points skyrocketed (6000/6000). The dark spirit added two cards to his hand as well, giving him a total of four cards. "I set one of them facedown, before I end my turn. You know it is inevitable, Pharaoh. Anubis will destroy you, and your pathetic excuses for gods."

Yami snarled in anger, but said nothing. After all, what was the use of arguing with someone who _destroyed_ gods, over the matter of insulting them? As Marik ended his turn, Ra gave a titanic roar and then disappeared.

He drew slowly, giving Slifer seven thousand attack and defense points. It let lose an earthshaking roar, but the fact was it was still weaker than the mighty Anubis, Destroyer of Gods.

He brightened upon seeing his next card. "I wasn't expecting this…"

"No other monster can possibly even hope to match Anubis right now. It is twice as strong as those cards that have the strongest base attack points in the game. If anything, I believe your words are nothing but a façade. You have nothing to counter my god, and you're simply hoping to use your false threats to scare me off. But I see right through you," snarled Marik.

Yami shrugged. "Wait and see. I set this one card facedown and end my turn." Slifer growled in anger as its strength fell again (6000/6000).

Marik's eyes bulged. "Very well. I begin by discarding a card from my hand to obliterate Slifer. Howl of God Crusher!" Once again, Anubis began to power up a sphere of black fire in the back of its deathly maw. Long, horrible fangs could be seen as the world seemed to shiver at the might of this creature.

"No!" shouted Yami. "I activate my facedown card, Time Reflector! At the cost of three cards from the top of my deck, your turn immediately ends!" Marik's eyes shot open as a large clock appeared on Yami's field. It resembled an Elizabethan clock made of fine wood, with hands of gold. Suddenly, the minute hand moved a bit, and suddenly, the fire disappeared from Anubis' jaws.

Marik snarled in anger, while Yami gave a light chuckle. "Of course, I'm sure you understand the implications of this effect. Anubis will only be able to use his effect against Slifer on your turn. Since the turn has ended, he was not able to excecute the effect. Even though he's a god, his effect has a spell speed two. Time Reflector, being a counter trap, has a spell speed three."

Marik replied only with a tightening of his jaw.

"Now, my turn," declared Yami. "I play the magic card, Magician's Sanctuary! I can use this to summon two Wizard Tokens (0/0) to my field in attack mode!" They both wore black robes, and had innocent, scared, teenage faces. There trembling hands carried long, hawthorn wands. Each one looked up at Slifer, and seemed to relax.

"Then I play Silent Doom! Both of us can special summon one monster from our graveyards in defense mode." Yami considered, and then picked his Apprentice Magician (400/800). The blonde-haired, purple mage appeared next to the tokens that were only slightly weaker than it. All the while, Slifer was losing power. It growled as its strength fell to four thousand.

"Then I play the magic card, Underworld Gem! I remove from play Queen's Knight, King's Knight, Jack's Knight, and the other two Apprentice Magicians to re-use my Emergence from the Netherworld! I sacrifice my three monsters to call upon the wrath of Obelisk the Tormentor (4000/4000)!"

A streak of lightning struck the field, causing a bright blue glow to form. Slowly, the large blue creature with massive wings, strong arms, powerful legs, and a strange head appeared. He let out a small growl, seemingly spelling out the impending doom.

Slifer glanced at Obelisk, and gave a small roar, as if indicating that it was willing to co-operate for the time-being. The two then looked at Anubis, and both gods, one of war and one of the sky, let lose an earth shattering roar each. The Destroyer of Gods matched it with a feral growl of its own.

"You do realize," snarled Marik. "That Obelisk (4000/4000) and Slifer (3000/3000) are both too weak to combat Anubis (10400/9500)? You've simply brought forth desert for Anubis after he devoured Ra!"

Yami closed his eyes. "This will serve a purpose you cannot hope to understand. I set a card facedown and end my turn." Slifer roared angrily as its power fell to a level that could only be described as mediocre (2000/2000).

Marik drew angrily. "I discard a card from my hand to blow away Obelisk! Howl of God Crusher!" As Anubis let lose a barrage of black fire at the blue god of war, Yami's eyes snapped open. "You are wrong here, Marik! I now activate what is possibly the most powerful quick-play magic card in Duel Monsters! Go, Soul of Heaven! It only activates when a divine-beast monster uses its effect. The effect is negated, and every duelist must normal summon every divine-beast from there decks, hands, graveyards, and removed from play piles!"

Marik's eyes shot open in surprise as both there graveyards began to glow. Suddenly, each one spat out two cards, and the duelists placed them on their Duel Disks.

"Ragnarok Dragon (4000/4000) and Gilgamesh the Chaos Warrior (0/0)," said Marik grimly.

"The Winged Dragon of Ra (0/0)," replied Yami.

The two spoke at the same time, but the effect of their voices was not lost. Both knew that they were beginning what was to be a battle with effects that reached so long, that the fate of the world depended on it. "Summon."

Then the room was lost in a hale of roars, flames and black fire.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaiba and Kyle both felt it at the same time. "It's begun," whispered the older man. "Now, everything is riding on whether Yugi can come out on top or not. This duel is going to be the most insane one ever witnessed. Yugi is possibly one of the most skilled duelists to ever live… But will he be able to beat Marik?"

Kyle struggled into a sitting position, and gasped as he leaned against the wall.

"He should… He has those gods."

Kaiba grimaced. "Touché. But considering what Marik is supposed to have… I wish I could say 'God help us all', but the problem is that if Marik wins, the only gods there are won't want to help us."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Marik stared imperiously at Yami's field as the titanic golden form of the Winged Dragon of Ra appeared on it. Its long talons glinted in the moonlight, and its eyes shown with power. The blue gem in its forehead glowed as well, but this was not enough to distract one from the gigantic wings, long teeth, and deadly claws.

On the dark spirit's field were the black and white armored Gilgamesh the Chaos Warrior, and the red and golden Ragnarok Dragon. The divine soldier's daemon-blade looked just as deadly as the Winged Dragon of Ra's talons, and the Ragnarok Dragon's teeth looked ready to sink into the flesh of another god.

"The gods versus the dark gods…" sneered Marik. "So it begins. And it will all end rather soon. Unless you haven't noticed, Anubis has ten thousand four hundred attack points. Ragnarok Dragon is still set at four thousand because of Temple of the Darkest God, and Gilgamesh has zero since nothing was sacrificed. However, Ra is at zero as well, while Obelisk and Slifer are only at four thousand and one thousand respectively. All I have to do is attack any one of your monsters with Anubis, and you lose the duel."

His voice was nearly drowned out by the many roars that the group of six deities were exchanging. The enmity between them was apparent, and Marik noticed the wonder in Yami's eyes. "Yes… This is really déjà vu. I remember the six gods engaged in battle five thousand years ago. Do you?" Marik said the last line with a purposeful mocking tone in his voice.

Yami snarled. "The second effect of my magic card resolves. We each draw until we hold six cards." Marik shrugged as they both filled their hands. Slifer (6000/6000) roared, as it was now the second strongest monster in play. "For each card we draw, we gain five hundred life-points."

(Yami: 5400, Marik: 3100)

Marik shrugged. "The duel is still over. You barely have half the life-points needed to survive this attack. Anubis, destroy the Winged Dragon of Ra now!" The world seemed to freeze as the Destroyer opened its jaws and reared its head backwards. Drawing power into its jaws, the creature lowered its head and spread its wings fully open. Black energy came streaming out of the creature's mouth and soared towards the golden dragon.

Yami shook his head. "Activate my facedown card, Command Silencer! Your battle phase ends and I draw one card!" The totem pole appeared and let lose a sonic wave, shattering the black fire.

Marik snarled in anger. "I set a card and end my turn."

As Yami drew, Slifer's power grew even more. It roared as its attack points now hit seven thousand.

The Pharaoh closed his eyes. "Marik… This is finished."

"What do you mean, Pharaoh?" snarled the villain angrily. "I have all three dark gods in play, along with my facedown card. You cannot possibly hope to overcome me. Truly, you are a fool. Even if you sacrifice your other two gods to Ra or Obelisk, I can guarantee you that my facedown card will stop it."

Yami gave a weary grin. "Do you believe that?"

"You think I'm bluffing?" snapped Marik.

"I don't believe that," replied Yami. "That facedown card will not matter once I release the ultimate power of Light." Marik's eyes narrowed. "What 'ultimate power' do you speak of?"

Yami held up three cards. "I will show you. Activate Magic Shard Excavation. Now, by discarding two cards from my hand, I can return one magic card to my hand, from my graveyard. Can you tell what magic card I speak of?"

Marik glared at him. "No magic card in the game can get you out of this situation. You're bluffing, I know it."

Yami shook his head. "All right. I will show you." He found the card in his graveyard and showed it to Marik, who froze at the sight of it. This was not possible. There was no way on Earth that the Pharaoh was doing this.

The card was none other than Polymerization.

Marik couldn't stop the thought that was going through his mind, over and over and over again. "_He's fusing the gods… He's fusing the gods…_"

"I will now show you a power that I, and only I can unleash," said Yami in a strong voice. Slowly, very slowly, the three gods began to glow. Gilgamesh, the Ragnarok Dragon and Anubis all stared at the three in one of the most primal emotions known to man. One would not expect such a reaction from three deities made of pure evil, but the truth was that their eyes showed not only hatred, but also fear.

Yami began to chant in Egyptian as a pure white vortex appeared on his field. He didn't know where the words came from, it was as if every single person on Earth who wished him well was providing him with the power and knowledge to recite the necessary words to call upon the pure embodiment of light.

Slowly, the gods entered the vortex. They were not sucked in, they willingly entered it. As they did, one could actually notice that their callous eyes seemed to hold a spark of humanity. Soon, the vortex was all that was present on Yami's field.

As Yami continued chanting, the vortex began to spin. Marik screamed in anger and hatred, and the dark gods roared. But yet, Yami's larynx did not falter. He continued chanting, until the vortex finally began to slow down.

"_Creator of Light, Horakti… End this. Please, just end this_."

The creature that had appeared from the vortex was something that no words could describe. In simplistic terms, one would call it a tall, heavenly being. It was dressed in pure, white armor that was clapped all over its body. Its utmost beauty was indescribable, but even then the soft features held a sense of justice.

"_When I successfully summon her by fusion summon… I win the duel. This is finished, Marik_." As the apex of light and hope began to glow, Yami regained some of his vigor.

"_Divine Creation… Just end it now, Horakti_." The holy god opened its mouth, and a quivering note left it. It was soft, yet it seemed to reverberate in the ears and hearts of every person on Earth, even though they didn't know it. The sheer beauty of the sound even stopped the dark gods from roaring.

In absolute silence, the ultimate force of light raised its hands. Light began to leave it in ways, slowly moving towards the three unholy embodiments of darkness and there master.

It seemed like everything was over, until a single cackle from Marik broke the utter silence. The sound chilled Yami's heart, despite the presence of his ultimate god. "Fool! Anubis has one last effect. By sacrificing him and my other two gods, I can destroy remove from play every god in our decks, hand and graveyard! From this point onward, gods cannot be played."

Marik's words almost knocked Yami over. He had been filled with such elation and hope that he would have finally been able to bring all of this chaos to a finish… His heart was filled not with hopeless despair and sorrow, but a silent sadness and regret that he had just failed.

The three gods on Marik's field began to glow with darkness. There was no massive explosion or anything of the sort this time. It seemed as if even the gods were tired of war. Brutal means of destruction were now beneath them. Slowly, very slowly, they began to disappear. Molecule by dark molecule broke off from there three bodies, and seemed to disappear into the atmosphere.

Horakti's light began to move more slowly. For one last time, the three dark gods engaged in battle, and a sea of black fire cascaded across the sky to meet the blaze of white light.

For a second, everything seemed to stop. But then, the attacks continued on, until darkness and light had blanketed each other. Yet, the result was not chaos, but balance. They had formed a strange vortex of a color not known to mortal men. The vortex slowly moved out in either direction, and began to absorb the three dark gods. They roared and growled in anger… But it didn't matter.

As the vortex moved to Horakti, it did not struggle. It had a face of absolute calmness as it was taken, leaving the entire field empty except for the vortex. Slowly, the vortex began to ascend into the sky. It continued on and on until Marik and Yami were unable to see it.

But not that they could still be bothered. Gods or no gods, they had a duel to finish.

Yami was still in shock. Marik snickered and said, "When the effect resolved, we each shuffle every card that is not a god card from our field, hand and graveyard into our deck. We then draw six cards each." Silently, Yami complied.

"Now, if I was not mistaken, it's your turn. Or can't you duel without help from you precious god cards?"

Yami finally snapped out of his reverie and glared at Marik. "You are going to pay for all your crimes, Marik. Believe me, you have committed too many wrong deeds to get away. I swear to everything I hold precious, as well as the memory of every single person who has been hurt at your hands, I will bring you to justice."

"Ugh….. Stupid sentimentality," snarled Marik. "Just make your damn move so I can crush you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**A bit short, I know. But I bet no one was expecting the move with Horakti…. The duel is not over, not by a long shot. Both duelists have a crazy amount of non-divine power. Just wait and watch, until the story comes to its stunning conclusion.**

**Btw, the effects of Anubis, Destroyer of Gods, except for the final effect, are the property of Wolf General. **

**Anyway, please read and review.**


	47. Heart of the Shadows

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX: Heart of the Shadows

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX: Heart of the Shadows

**Here we are. The final, thrilling chapter of YuGiOh! Advent of Power. It's been a wild ride for two years, with ups as well as downs. Of course, I will answer your reviews.**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Thanks for the compliments. Watapon… Possibly. You can read on and find out, but then again, there is no guarantee I planned for Yami to actually win the duel.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Wow. That is one of the most compliment-filled reviews I have ever received. Believe me, you have no idea how much I appreciate this kind of praise. As for the sequel, if you liked this, you are going to **_**love**_** that. Aye, I had been trying to choose between a giant, demonic wolf and Anubis' demon form for the Destroyer of Gods. Since WG used a wolf for his Destroyer, I decided to use the big jackal. I want to thank you especially for being such a great support since the beginning of the story, and sticking with it through the good and bad times. Enjoy this chapter.**

**Mystralwind: I thought summoning Horakti would be fun… Anyway, I'm glad you liked the chapter. Yup, the duel is something entirely new, for this chapter is 11,000 words long. Enjoy this last one before the madness of the sequel.**

**HimmeAmelie: The appearance was short, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for all the support.**

**SolarMoon59: Wow…. Thanks a lot. That's all I can say. **

Yami sighed. He was exhausted… Even Kaiba's gift of energy would only last so long. "I… I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000) in attack mode."

A mage with mostly maroon armor and a cape, with gold trim and some blue jewels, appeared onto the field. He had a hood over his head, which covered blue skin. In his hands were a sword and shield, showing he wasn't just a mage, but was also a warrior.

"Since I just normal summoned Breaker, his effect goes off. He now gains a Spell Counter, granting him an additional 300 attack points (1600 + 300 1900/1000)." The mage glowed slightly, and a green ring of light appeared on his sword.

"I set a card facedown and end my turn."

Marik drew. "Bah… I don't need gods to defeat you. I special summon Cyber Dragon (2100/1600) in attack mode!" A metal snake like dragon quickly materialized onto the field and let out a mechanical roar.

"Then I will add an Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500)." A purple horned fiend appeared on his field. He wore a golden cape, and glared at Yami, showing a bunch of razor sharp teeth.

"Cyber Dragon, attack his Breaker with Strident Blaze!" With a mechanical screech, the mechanical dragon let lose a burst of white energy at the warrior. Breaker raised his shield in defense, but it was evident that he would not survive the attack.

"Sorry Marik, but you've fallen for one of the simplest traps in the game. Go, Spellbinding Circle!"

Without warning, a large a green circle with strange golden symbols with formed on the top, left, right, and bottom formed, with a white question mark like symbol in the center appeared above Yami's side of the field. The circle without warning quickly flew across the field and slid over the dragon's head and around its neck. Upon doing this, it wrapped itself around the machine, preventing it from attacking.

Marik frowned. "Very well. Now, unfortunately, Cyber Dragon cannot attack. But no matter." He paused for a moment. "I do not wish to waste my Archfiend Soldier. Therefore, I set a card and end my turn."

Yami drew. "I play Lightning Vortex! By discarding a card from my hand, I can destroy all face up monsters on your field." A golden bolt of lightning descended from the sky, wreathed in electricity. It slammed into both monsters on Marik's field, causing them to cry out in pain as they were literally vaporized.

"Thankfully, I had discarded A Second Chance. I remove it from play in order to draw two cards." Looking over his hand of five cards, Yami chose one more card. "I summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700)!" A mage in black robes with large shoulder pads, a green staff held in two hands, black gloves, a black helmet, and only his face visible appeared.

Marik was completely calm, despite the fact that the two magicians had enough strength to wipe out his remaining life-points. "Before you even think of removing Breaker's counter, I will chain Wabuko to the summoning of Skilled Dark Magician!" Three robed mages appeared on Marik's field, ready to chant if need be.

Yami frowned. It would be useless to remove Breaker's counter now. "Fine. You have outplayed me for now. End turn."

Marik drew, a smirk on his face. "I call upon the mighty Illusion Soldier (2000/0) in attack mode." A strange monster dressed in silver robes appeared. He carried a thin, long katana, and had long, golden hair. His features could not be made out, for he seemed to appear and disappear quite a bit.

"Now, Illusion Soldier cannot attack. However, he has the ability to destroy one monster weaker than him, per turn." Yami gasped as the Illusion Soldier disappeared, and for a moment, it looked like he was gone for good. He then re-appeared behind the Skilled Dark Magician, a sick grin on his face. With a cry, he slammed the sword into the mage's back. Crying out in agony, the spellcaster disappeared.

Yami frowned as Marik gleefully ended his turn.

Yami drew. "You will pay for that! I sacrifice Breaker to summon Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900)!"

The new monster a mage, who was in mostly black robes with a little yellow trim. His facial skin was light blue, which was the only skin really shown. The rest of his body was wrapped up in the black robes, with a long black cape on his back and a large black hat on his head. In his hands was a short black staff that was lightly glowing yellow on the end.

"Attack with Chaos Magic Attack!" The magician raised his short black staff. The yellow orb began to glow brightly, and with a battle cry, he let the attack lose in the form of a stream of yellow energy. It hit the Illusion Soldier, frying it on impact.

(Yami: 5400, Marik: 2700)

"I set a card and end my turn," said Yami confidently.

Marik drew. "I set a card facedown and end my turn." A brown-backed card appeared on Marik's field, leaving him with nothing to combat the might of the Chaos Command Magician.

Yami smirked as he drew. "Perfect. I play Trade In. This lets me discard a level eight monster to draw two cards." He slotted the necessary card into his graveyard, and drew two more cards. "Then I play Premature Burial, paying eight hundred life-points to revive the card I discarded. Come out, Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

Lightning instantly began striking the field rapidly in a single area. After a few moments, a figure appeared in the striking and slowly burst out of the bolts. Once the lightning finally stopped, a mage decked out in black leather armor, with an odd mage's hat, blue skin shown only on his face, and a black staff in his hand appeared. The mage finally opened his eyes, revealing strange yellow corneas and red irises.

"First I will add a magic card from my graveyard back to my hand… I choose Trade In!" smirked the Pharaoh, finding the card in his graveyard and adding it to his hand.

"You do realize that the combined power of my monsters is enough to destroy you?" chuckled Yami.

Marik did not reply.

"Very well…. Dark Magician of Chaos, and Chaos Command Magician! Unity Chaos Magic!" The two mages crossed their staffs. Both began to glow, and simultaneously, they fired out spheres of yellow and black energy. The two spheres combined to form a blast of blazing red energy, which was about to slam into Marik's chest and end the duel, when he gave a brazen laugh.

"Sorry…. But you have forced me to activate a card known as Dark Imp Summon! This lets me special summon four Dark Imp Tokens (0/0) in defense mode." Four small, cackling fiends appeared on the villain's field. Each one was a strange and weird green in color. They had crimson eyes, and did not stop laughing even as two of them were obliterated by the attack.

"You may have escaped this time, Marik," growled Yami. "But it was only temporary. Sooner or later, you will lose."

Marik ignored him. "I draw," he declared. He sneered inwardly at the next card. "I sacrifice both Dark Imp Tokens to call upon the mighty Midnight Demon Soldier (2000/2000)!" Yami almost laughed as the two imps disappeared, only to be replaced by a demon dressed in black and white armor. He carried a long, thin staff, topped with a spike. The demon was rather muscular, and its long claws shown in the darkness.

"Two tributes for a monster with 2000 attack points?" snickered Yami.

"Just wait until you see his effect. He can only be summoned by tributing two dark monsters. Then, you draw two cards." Yami looked dumbfounded as he snapped the top two cards off his deck. "Whatever his effect is, it can't be good enough to get around its negative effects and restrictions."

"Really? Because this effect allows me to gain four thousand life-points." Yami gasped as Marik's life-points skyrocketed, leaving his far behind in the dust.

(Yami: 4600, Marik: 6700)

"I can actually use this effect every turn, so it would be advisable to destroy Midnight Demon Soldier sooner then later." Yami shrugged. "With only two thousand attack points, he's easy prey for either of my magicians."

"Not if I equip him with the magic card, Shadow Blade! Now, I can send a monster with fifteen hundred attack points or less from my deck to the graveyard, in order to increase the attack points of the equipped monster by that monster's attack points." Yami shook his head in denial as a smirking Marik held up a monster called Void Fortress (1200/3200). He slotted it into his graveyard, and the Midnight Demon Soldier began to glow (3200/2000).

"Destroy his Dark Magician of Chaos with Tempest Blade!"

The demon drew a long, thin sword, that seemed to have swirling, chaotic clouds around it. At once, it charged towards the Chaos Mage, who raised his staff in defense. He was, however, unable to parry the blow, for the sword sliced through his staff and struck his heart. He cried out in agony as he disappeared, leaving the Chaos Command Magician alone.

(Yami: 4200, Marik: 6700)

"I set two cards and end my turn," sneered Marik.

Yami drew. "_Thirty-two hundred attack points… Without the god cards, that's going to be very hard to top. Still, I must try. The fate of every single person on Earth depends on it. If Marik wins the Tournament of Shadows, he'll get the power of the Pharaoh. With such powerful magic at his disposal, he'll be unstoppbale_."

Drawing, Yami smirked. "I summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) in attack mode!" The elven swordsman appeared, dressed in green armor. His helmet was finely crafted, and as he flourished his brown cape, a silver blade flashed through the dark sky.

"Next I equip Chaos Command Magician with United We Stand! This grants him eight hundred attack points for every monster on my field, including himself." A stream of energy from the Celtic Guardian hit the magician, and he began to glow. His attack points were now on par with Obelisk the Tormentor (2400 + 1600 4000/1900 + 1600 3500).

"Attack with Chaos Magic Attack!" Pointing his staff at the demon, the black robed mage released a blast of yellow energy. The blast struck the demon hard, making him slide backwards a bit, right before he was shattered into millions of tiny pixels.

The Obnoxious Celtic Guardian followed it up by slamming its blade into Marik's gut. He gasped in pain, but quickly shook it off.

(Yami: 4200, Marik: 4500)

It was back to Marik. As he drew, he gave a wicked chuckle. "I call upon Makyura the Destructor (1600/1200) in attack mode." With a deranged grin, the dark side of the Pharaoh's servant summoned to the field an immense soldier that was fully protected by purple armor, with the only breach of theme being the ominous Eye of Wdjat on its forehead. Its long claws glinted.

"But that can barely destroy my Celtic Guardian, let alone Chaos Command Magician!" protested Yami.

Marik chuckled. "Not if I play Quick Summon… This lets me make another normal summon this turn. I sacrifice Makyura for Caius the Shadow Monarch (2400/1000)!" Makyura disappeared, only to be replaced by a towering man dressed in tattered black robes, and gray armor. His knee and elbow pads had shining sapphires, and his face was bent, so as to protect his scarred features. In his hand was a sphere of purplish-black energy.

"When he's summoned, he removes one card from play. I know that your mage is immune to targeting monster effects, so that's why I add the quick-play magic card, Dark Lightning! This negates the effect of one monster on your field, and allows me to draw one card. Shadow Burst!" Yami gasped in shock as Caius let lose the sphere of energy at the Chaos Command Magician. The mage attempted to block it with his staff, but was shocked to find that the attack caused his scepter to disintegrate. He turned to Yami in disbelief, and the Pharaoh could only watch in dismay as he was burned away.

"Of course, your warrior's effect protects him from destruction in battle by a monster with more than nineteen hundred attack points, but that doesn't stop you from taking damage. Attack now, Caius!" Yami braced himself as the Dark Emperor let lose a stream of unholy energy, leaving the Celtic Guardian battered and injured.

(Yami: 3200, Marik: 4500)

"End turn," sneered Marik.

Yami drew. "I switch Obnoxious Celtic Guardian to defense mode. Then I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." The elf swordsman dropped to one knee, holding his sword up defensively.

Even as Marik drew, he ordered, "Caius, obliterate it!" Once again, Yami was forced to watch as the most powerful monarch in the game let lose a stream of black energy from its knarled hand at the brown-backed card image. It flipped over to reveal a warrior with long black hair wearing a teal and purple shirt with no sleeves, orange pants, and had a huge shield that covered almost all of his body whom was kneeling.

The black energy rebounded off the shield and hit Marik, causing him to snarl in pain.

"Big Shield Gardna (100/2600) is too powerful for your Shadow Monarch to handle," chuckled Yami.

Marik glared. "But now your warrior switches to attack mode." The soldier stood up, drawing a small sword. He tried to glare at Caius, but was silenced by a growl.

"I'm not afraid," shrugged Yami. "Anything else?" Marik was silent for a moment, then angrily ended his turn.

(Yami: 3200, Marik: 4300)

Yami snapped the top card off his deck. He could defend with Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and Big Shield Gardna for a while, but they'd only last so long. It was better to go on the offensive, and end the duel as fast as he could.

He had cards that would allow him to end the duel with a massive offensive strike, but he was missing one, key card. It would be safer to wait and try and draw it rather than try and excecute a messy and incomplete strategy that in all likelihood, would fail.

"I switch Big Shield Gardna to defense mode, and set one facedown card. End turn." The warrior with long, black hair fell to his knees again, raising up the massive shield, as if daring Caius to attack. This time, the monarch knew it was outclassed, and gave no reaction, preferring to maintain the quiet dignity of a king.

Marik drew. "Bah! You are making me very angry. You're just lucky I haven't drawn a monster yet, otherwise your life-points would be lunch for my creatures. I end my move."

Yami drew, and brightened. Finally, all pieces were there.

"I activate my facedown Ties of the Brethren. By paying one thousand life-points, I can special summon two monsters with the same attribute, that are level four or other. They cannot be used for a tribute summon. I pick Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700) and Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600)!"

Placing both monster cards horizontally onto his Duel Disk, Yami watched as a grey magnet creature with a sword and shield, followed by a yellow magnet creature with magnets for it's hands, feet, and had a magnet wrapped around it's head.

"I now send Alpha, Beta, and Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500/1800) to the Graveyard in order to special summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!"

The large, pink magnet warrior appeared beside the other two. Each of the three magnet creatures let out a small moan and began to split apart. Slowly, the pieces began to form a new single creature. The creature had a sword, powerful arms and feet, a strong set of pink wings, and a yellow masked face with magnets on it. Letting out a new moan, the creature took an offensive stance.

"Not bad," observed Marik.

Yami continued to smirk. "And that's not all. I play Silent Doom. Now, each one of us can special summon a monster from our graveyard in defense mode. I will bring back Gamma the Magnet Warrior." The pink metal magnet creature with strange wings, large pink feet, a big blue S on its chest, silver spring like arms, a magnet around it's neck, and a strange pink head appeared onto the field with its arms crossed.

Marik considered. "I choose Midnight Demon Soldier (2000/2000)." The deadly soldier appeared next to its master, its sword held horizontally, in a defense position.

"Then I sacrifice Big Shield Gardna, Gamma the Magnet Warrior, and Obnoxious Celtic Guardian for my grandfather's rarest card! Gilford the Lightning (2800/1400), come forth now!" Marik had not expected this. The three monsters disappeared, and lightning struck the field.

A warrior in grey armor with a red cape and a grey helmet then appeared. He had a huge sword on his back in a sheath, and let out a battle cry when he was summoned. "Since I sacrificed three monsters to summon him, he wipes out all monsters on your field! RAIGEKI BLADE!"

Gilford unsheathed his blade, which seemed to be literally fizzing with energy. With a cry of triumph, he pointed it at Marik's field. It shone so brightly for a second, that the duelists were unable to see their surroundings. Then, everything was back to normal, and a massive bolt of lightning had left the lightning warrior's blade and was traveling towards Marik's field.

If the effect worked, it would be all over for Marik. He didn't have enough life-points to withstand sixty-three hundred points of damage.

"No!" roared Marik. "I play Mystic Wok, sacrificing Caius to gain twenty-four hundred life-points!" The Dark Emperor just disappeared as the bolt hit the Midnight Demon Soldier, who shrieked in pain for a moment before it disappeared.

"Damn it," cursed Yami.

(Yami: 2200, Marik: 6700)

"Very well. You leave me no choice," snapped the ancient Pharaoh. "Gilford… Thunderbolt Cut!" The mighty warrior drew his long sword again, and snapped it around himself, one hundred and eighty degrees. The power of the swing caused a shockwave to move through the air, but on closer inspection, one could see it was actually small tendrils of electricity. It hit Marik in the gut, causing him to double over in pain.

"FEEL IT, MARIK!" screamed Yami. "Feel the pain you have caused so many others."

(Yami: 2200, Marik: 3900)

"Ultimate Magnet Edge!" Yami commanded, looking at Valkyrion. The Magna Warrior buzzed, and also rushed towards the villain. Its sword scythed through the air, slamming into his shoulder. Once again, he growled in pain, but shook it off as the powerful monster floated back to Yami's field.

(Yami: 2200, Marik: 400)

"Still want to continue, Marik?" snarled Yami. That was his mistake.

Marik lost it. "YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A KING!" he shrieked, his voice echoing through the dark skies. "HOW DARE YOU TREAT ME LIKE SOME LOWLY SERVANT! I AM THE TRUE PHARAOH OF EGYPT! DO NOT STAND THERE AND JUDGE ME! I WILL SHOW YOU SUCH PAIN FOR THIS INSULT…. THAT EVEN THE BLAZING FIRE OF HELL WILL NOT LET YOU FORGET IT!"

Yami was unperturbed by the outburst.

"I end my turn."

Marik drew. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn. Your destruction is nigh, Pharaoh," he whispered.

Yami drew, and didn't even bother to look at it. "Gilford, destroy his facedown card!" With a nod, the warrior raced across the field, and its sword descended gracefully through the air and sliced the card in half. Just before it disappeared, the card was replaced by a floating ball of black slime.

"Giant Germ (1000/100) deals you five hundred points of damage when destroyed. I can also special summon the other two copies in my deck in facedown defense mode." Yami frowned as the two brown-backed card images appeared on Marik's field.

He felt a dull pain in his chest due to the damage, but ignored it. Now was not the time for giving into physical pain.

(Yami: 1700, Marik: 400)

Yami knew he would have to get rid of the two Giant Germs if he was to finish it. He grimaced. This was not something he wanted to do, but he couldn't afford to let Marik have two monsters on the field sticking around for a possible tribute. "Valkyrion… Do it."

The Magna Warrior buzzed, and a moment later, its sword had cleaved through the other blob of living matter. Yami felt a tendril of darkness curl around his leg, sucking the energy out of him.

(Yami: 1200, Marik: 400)

"I set a card and end my turn," he said softly.

Marik snapped the top card off his deck, giving him a grand total of four cards, not to mention the facedown Giant Germ he had.

"Feel my wrath, Pharaoh!" he thundered. "I sacrifice my Giant Germ to call upon the wrath of the Dark Ruler Ha Des (2450/1600) once again!" The living blob of black matter was replaced by the blue-skinned demon. He was dressed in a dark blue robe, which was covered by heavy purple armor. Instead of a chest plate, there was a large skull.

"Not bad," grunted Yami. "But it can't even take on Gilford, let alone Valkyrion."

Marik closed his eyes. "Pharaoh… Have you ever heard the story behind the Dark Ruler Ha Des?"

Yami shook his head, his curiosity piqued. What was this insane man talking about? "You see, the Dark Ruler Ha Des was not the true ruler of the Underworld. Eons ago, it was watched over by a supreme demon who ruled his subjects with an iron fist. At that point, the powers of darkness were possibly the most deadly in existence. Even the most powerful angels could not match up to the ultimate ruler of the shadows."

Yami raised his eyebrows.

"The Dark Ruler Ha Des was one of the generals of this mighty ruler, and he too wished for power. With the help of the Archfiend Lords, he began a massive revolution that would forever shake the foundation of the monarchy of the Underworld. The battle lasted for years. Ha Des had on his side the might of the army of the Archfiends, but his king was backed by the most powerful demons in existence. Even the mighty Ultimate Obedient Fiend was on his side."

Marik's grin widened. "However, Ha Des succeeded in the end, by means of a massive ambush of the fortress of his ex-ruler, the Caste of Dark Illusions. However, the former king was tooHowever, the former king was too powerful to killHHoweHowever, the former king was far too powerful to destroy. Ha Des finally had his most powerful dark mages seal him in a prison of darkness. The spell was sealed with Ha Des' own blood. Only Ha Des' death and the necessary ritual would be able to bring back the original king."

He held up a card. "And now…. He returns." Yami's eyes widened as Marik flipped around a card that depicted the Dark Ruler Ha Des covered with blazing fire, screaming in pain as a shadow looked on.

"I play the magic card, Phantom Darkness. By sacrificing the Dark Ruler Ha Des, I will now show you the might of the true king of the Underworld."

Suddenly, a shadow rose up behind Ha Des. He turned around, and his demonic features actually reflected fear. Suddenly, he screamed in pain as cuts appeared all over his body. Yami and his monsters watched in disgust as jet black blood leaked out all over the field. The demon fell to his knees, begging for mercy. The shadow gave a cruel chuckle, and suddenly enveloped Ha Des.

"What in the name of Ra…" began Yami.

"Ha Des will suffice, thank you," replied Marik in a crazed voice, as the corpse of the blue skinned demon disappeared. A new figure appeared on Marik's field, completely enveloped in darkness. Yami could barely make out anything, until the darkness began to clear.

Yami gasped. It was a site unlike anything he had ever seen. He could feel Yugi's shock and fear in his own mind, and for a second he wondered if Yugi was not the only one who felt like that.

The beast was a wicked behemoth that appeared to be a forgotten breed of demon. It was about twelve feet tall, with thick, blood red scales and taloned claws. It was dressed in brass armor forged in the deepest bowels of Hell, and on its back was a set of pinions that looked like they would spear anyone, mortal or divine, who dared to attack this heathen from his blindside. His countenance was rather unpleasant to behold, for he had a thin maw filled with deadly fangs, and two horns that sprouted from a large, black helmet. His primal yellow eyes displayed a certain level of arrogance. A cape fell across his shoulders and hovered slightly above the ground.

"Pharaoh… Meet the Dark King of the Abyss (3600/3000)," whispered Marik.

Yami gulped. It was stronger than both Gilford and Valkyrion. What kind of effect did this monstrosity possess?

"He is truly a deadly monster. You see, when he is summoned, I can wipe out one monster on your field, destroy one magic or trap card, and force you to discard one card from your hand." Yami gasped. How could such a powerful beast even exist?

The Dark King of the Abyss raised one of his hands in a bored manner. It began to glow with black energy, and he pointed it in the direction of none other than Valkyrion the Magna Warrior. Gilford gave his comrade a sad look, and the mechanical creature buzzed in angry sadness. Even it had some honor.

The heathen demon then let lose a sphere of darkness at Valkyrion. The Magna Warrior raised his sword in defense. For a second, it seemed like the attack had been split in half by the sword, but it was not so. It continued on and vaporized the mechanical monster. The shockwave sent out by the attack shattered Yami's facedown card.

"Great… No Sakuretsu Armor," he muttered, even as he slid a card from his hand into the graveyard. Luckily, it was Repayment of Losses, meaning he got to draw another card, evening out his hand again.

He now looked sadly at Gilford. This monster meant two people to him, Solomon Moto as well as Joey. If Marik destroyed it… He clenched his fist. That man would pay.

"Now, destroy his warrior!" The darkness around them formed a long, straight form. It gained color, and turned into a long, black sword. The Dark King of the Abyss snatched it out of the air, and held it up in the air. With a flash, it had torn across the field, its yellow eyes gleaming with feral hatred. It swung, and Gilford raised its own blade to parry.

The sound of the clash was horrible; the screeching of metal on metal something unlike any had ever heard. However, it was simply a struggle of display. The demon whirled around and its sword slammed into Gilford's side, slicing through his armor and completely destroying him.

Yami fell to his knees, clutching his chest in pain. "No…" he gasped. "You will not get away with this. As long as there is breath in my body, you will be brought to justice."

(Yami: 400, Marik: 400)

"Save it," snorted Marik. "In any case, I will end my turn. There is really nothing else for you to do. It would be intelligent of you to surrender now, but then again, how can one expect intelligence from the Pharaoh?"

Yami ignored him. "Ah, very well, I end my turn."

It was back to Yami. He snapped the top card off his deck. With only three cards in his hand, he knew that mounting a counteroffensive would be incredibly difficult. It would be wiser to play defensively for the moment. And what better card to do that then his Apprentice Magician (400/800)?

Chuckling, he set it facedown in defense mode and ended his turn.

Marik drew. "I summon Dark Samurai of Life (1000/2000)!" A man dressed in a white armor appeared. His head was covered by a brutal helmet, covered with spikes. In one hand, he held a large shield. A small bow was strapped to his back, along with a quiver of arrows.

"Now, Dark King of the Abyss… Attack with Primal Destruction!" The monster roared, and let lose a wave of energy from its sword. Marik howled in frustration as the card flipped up to reveal the blonde, purple robed magician that was instantly shattered. Smirking, Yami found the correct card and placed it on his field.

"Fine. Dark Samurai of Life, destroy his facedown monster!" The samurai lowered its shield, and pulled out an arrow. Knocking it into the bow, it let the missile lose with surgical presicion. The card flipped up, and the poor magician was skewered by the attack.

Once again, Yami chose a card and put it on his field.

"After battling, Dark Samurai of Life switches to defense mode. I end my turn," growled Marik.

Yami drew, a confident smirk on his face. "First I play Graceful Charity." Carefully, he decided which cards to discard, but not before drawing three. "I sacrifice my facedown Apprentice Magician for Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!"

Instantly the small mage vanished and in his place, a young woman with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a skimpy blue and pink mage's dress that showed her cleavage quite well with the dress barely covering her back side, a blue and pink mage's hat, and a staff in her right hand took to the field.

"Worthless," sneered Marik.

Yami chuckled. "Really? What if I play Sage's Stone?" The Dark Magician Girl began to glow, and slowly but surely, a new form began to rise up next to her. It was a stronger mage in purple armor with flowing purple robes. He wore a strange set of armor, with a strange mage's hat, and had a powerful green staff that was nearly as tall as his body. His long hair that could be seen hanging out of his hat was purple and his eyes were the color of lilac.

"My soul monster, the Dark Magician (2500/2100) has arisen," chuckled Yami.

"You almost emptied your hand to summon two pathetic monsters." Marik still retained his arrogant disposition, certain that he would reign victorious.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn," chuckled Yami. His hand was empty.

Marik drew. "Dark King of the Abyss… ATTACK DARK MAGICIAN AND END THE DUEL!" The demon roared and raised his sword into the air, drawing up dark energy into the blade. He then made a sweeping motion towards the mage, who seemed unfazed. A shockwave was send pulsing through the shadows towards him.

"It's a shame you didn't notice my facedown card," sighed Yami. "And it will cost you. Go, Covering Fire!" Marik's eyes bulged as the Dark Magician and the Dark Magician Girl began to glow. Power began to flow from apprentice to master, and the powerful mage's attack points went through the roof (4500/2100).

"Covering Fire grants Dark Magician the attack points of his apprentice for the duration of the turn," said Yami calmly. "In other words, game over."

The mage quickly raised his staff to point at the unholy ruler's attack and fired a blast of powerful black energy. The two attacks clashed, and the mage's blast easily tore through the demon's blade of energy. The black energy blast then flew across the field, striking the dark warrior hard and causing a massive explosion.

Yami expected to see Marik's life-point counter at zero. However, it was only at two hundred.

"How is this possible?" he snarled. The smoke cleared to reveal a standing Marik, even though he was gasping. The Dark King of the Abyss was gone, though the Dark Samurai of Life was still on his field. "By paying half my life-points, Dark Samurai of Life allows me to reduce all battle damage to zero," sneered Marik.

(Yami: 400, Marik: 200)

"Foiled again," cursed Yami to himself.

Marik considered. "Fine. I set a card and end my turn."

Yami drew. "This is the end, Marik. Dark Magician, destroy his Dark Samurai of Life with Dark Magic Attack!" Marik shrieked with laughter.

"Foolish Pharaoh! I activate my facedown trap card, Magical Trick Mirror! Now, I can take one magic card from your graveyard… I choose the one I know for a fact you discarded just last turn with Graceful Charity. Magical Dimension!"

"Wait!" shouted Yami. "You need a spellcaster on the field for that!"

Marik chuckled. "I do. Dark Samurai of Life, is, indeed a spellcaster. Now… Watch as I bring forth a creature far more worthy of the name 'spellcaster', then any of the pathetic mages in your deck. Come forth… Her Royal Highness herself, Cosmo Queen (2900/2450)!"

A golden statue materialized onto the field and opened up it's top half, sucking in the samurai. The statue lightly glowed and then shot out a new creature. This monster had a strange cylinder like hat that was gold and maroon with spikes on the ends of the cylinder. The creature's skin was light purple, and only her head and hands were exposed. On her shoulders was a green and gold set of shoulder pads. The rest of her robes were maroon.

"Ah yes, and thanks to Magical Dimension, I can destroy a monster on the field. I choose your Dark Magician!"

Without warning, a beam came flying out of the open doors to the statue, striking the purple robed mage, whose face was full of shock when he shattered. Yami only growled in frustration at the loss of his monster.

"Now, you are defenseless against my mighty Cosmo Queen! You had might as well surrender now, for your pathetic Dark Magician Girl (2000 + 300 2300/1700) is no match for the true queen of dark magic." The determined young lady locked eyes with the far stranger and uglier female. Despite her weakness, she was unwilling to surrender.

"I set a card and end my turn," snarled Yami.

Marik drew, and did not even bother to look at the card.

"Cosmo Queen, end this!" Nodding to her master, the maroon robed mage held up both her hands in front of her body. A sphere of black energy formed instantly between her palms. Smirking evilly, the woman pushed the blast towards the Dark Magician Girl, who braced her petite body for the attack.

"You think I would leave my monsters undefended?" roared Yami. "Go, Wabuko!" Three blue-robed men appeared in front of the Dark Magician Girl. They began to chant, and the sphere of black energy eventually dissipated.

"You saved yourself for one turn," snarled Marik. "It means nothing. Cosmo Queen will crush you!"

"We'll see," retorted Yami. He knew that if he didn't draw a good card, they would indeed.

Meanwhile, Marik set a card and ended his turn.

Yami took a deep breath, and drew. "_YES_!" he thought to himself, feeling very elated.

"Sorry Marik, but that Cosmo Queen has got to go. I play the Card of Sanctity! Now, we both draw until he hold six cards." Both duelists filled their hands, not bothering to cast glances at their rapidly thinning decks. The way this duel was going, it would be over long before either one decked out.

"I play Supreme Sage's Stone. When Dark Magician Girl is on the field, I can special summon Dark Magician from my deck, hand, graveyard, or removed from play pile. Rise up once more, old friend!" Appearing without a moment's hesitation was the purple robed mage once more. He instantly crossed his arms with his staff in hand upon his reappearance (2500/2100).

"Then I sacrifice both monsters to call upon the most feared and powerful spellcaster in all of Duel Monsters. Come out, Sorcerer of Dark Magic (3200/2800)!"

Both mages vanished in a flash, but was quickly replaced by a more powerful mage. He wore black body armor that covered a majority of his body, except his muscular arms. He had a set of mages robes on over top the armor that were an odd color of blue. On his back, a black cape reached to his feet. A strange set of shoulder pads and a stranger spike like structure rose behind his head. Also, a black hat covered his head, revealing his blue eyes and face, with a little of his blonde hair, only. His hands were covered in black gloves, and in his right hand was a powerful staff. It was green with a tri-pitch fork like design, with a small blue sphere in the center.

"With an advantage of three hundred points over your Cosmo Queen, the duel is over. Attack with Celestial Blast!" The new, powerful magician raised his long staff, and let lose a torrent of yellow flames at the cosmic empress. She raised her hands in defense, but the blast enveloped her completely.

"It's ov-…" Yami was about to complete the sentence when he saw a wall of furballs pop up on Marik's field. "How do you like having Kuriboh (300/200) be used against you?" sneered the villain.

Marik continued "I activate the quick-play Deal With a Dark Ruler! When a level eight or higher monster is destroyed, I can special summon my Berserk Dragon (3500/0) in attack mode!"

A large brown, nearly black dragon that had silver flowing hair, red glowing eyes, a long tail, powerful legs and arms then appeared. It was a true zombie, with rotten flesh. Parts of its skin were ripped off, exposing unhealthy looking, yellow bone. It let out a loud roar, showing its ferocity. Yami gulped. He had faced this monster twice before: against Solomon, and against the Big Five in the virtual world.

"Anything else?" sneered Marik.

Yami set a card and ended his turn.

Marik snapped the top card off his deck. The Berserk Dragon gave a low growl. "Berserk Dragon, destroy Sorcerer of Dark Magic now!" declared Marik.

Yami watched in dismay as the zombie dragon opened its mouth, and let lose a sphere of unholy black energy. The attack plummeted towards the mighty magician, who tried to counter it with his magical flames. It was to no avail, for he was eventually decimated by the attack.

(Yami: 100, Marik: 200)

Yami could barely stand. One hundred life-points? Would he actually be able to survive?

"End turn," sneered Marik. As he said those words, the Berserk Dragon roared as its attack points fell (3000/0).

Yami closed his eyes and drew. His eyes flashed. "Marik… You made a big mistake when you armed my grandfather with such a powerful deck."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" spat Marik.

Yami held up a card. "When I played Graceful Charity, I discarded one more card, for I felt it would be more useful in the graveyard. This was one of the only four cards of its kind in the _world_." Realization dawned on Marik's face. "It can't be… NOT THAT!"

"Face it, Marik! You were the one who used Pegasus' resources to repair this card, and now its coming back to haunt you. I play Monster Reborn… Arise, mighty BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON (3000/2500)!"

From thousands of feet above the Earth, a mighty creature roared in response to the summons, and a vast shadow fell over the field, spreading apprehensiveness into the zombie dragon. This shadow grew in size, and a faintly draconic shape appeared, and from this appeared a messenger, a fusion of light and darkness. Clad in silver armor, and with a wingspan double that of the Berserk Dragon, the creature lifted its massive head to its full height, opening and closing its great maw. With its cold cerulean eyes it scanned the field, and once it fell upon Marik, it gave another frightening roar.

Marik regained his composure. "Bah! Your dragon is exactly as strong as mine, which means that if you attack they destroy each other. And I know that you would _never_ happen, for you respect your dragon too much. I, on the other hand, don't give a damn whether this rotten reptile ends up in Heaven or Hell. All I have to do is draw a monster, and then suicide the two dragons. Then, it's over for you."

Yami had a curious grin on his face. "Perhaps Marik… Perhaps. But I do happen to have a little quick-play spell known as… Rush Recklessly!" Suddenly, the Blue Eyes began to glow, and its attack power shot up (3700/2500).

"No…" gasped Marik. "End this… White Lightning!" Between the massive jaws of the dragon formed a ball of blue-white energy, crackling as each individual volt completed a circuit with the teeth of the beast, until it was launched like a cannonball, crashing into the unholy beast of death on Marik's field.

"DAMN IT, YAMI! YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME AGAIN! I ACTIVATE ENCHANTED JAVELIN, GRANTING ME THE ATTACK POINTS OF YOUR DRAGON AS LIFE-POINTS!" A long staff appeared, topped with a golden spike. It had two, small fairy wings on either side, and while it was obliterated by the assault, it gave Marik much needed life-points.

(Yami: 100, Marik: 3200)

"Damn it…" whispered Yami. "_He escaped again_!"

"Anything else, _my lord_?" said Marik sarcastically. Frustrated, Yami ended his turn. The Blue Eyes gave a slight roar (3000/2500).

Marik sighed and drew. The Blue Eyes was powerful, no doubt, and it would take a while before he drew the cards necessary to destroy it. Until then, he would be forced to play a defensive strategy.

"I set a monster in defense mode, and end my turn," growled Marik.

Yami drew, and sighed in frustration. If only he drew a monster… "Blue Eyes, White Lightning!" As the column of heavenly blue-white energy soared towards Marik's field, the card flipped up to reveal an orangish-red tomato with sharp fangs, a long tongue, crazy yellow corneas with red irises, and veins on the top of its forehead. It was instantly vaporized.

"When destroyed in battle, Mystic Tomato (1400/1100) allows me to special summon one dark monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points from my deck to the field. I choose Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200)!"

A clown with a white and black striped face, with yellow and blue-green baggy clothing, a blue vest with a white collar, a large red hat with a long pink flowing wig materialized onto the field.

Yami grimaced. He knew this monster's effect… When destroyed in battle, it would allow Marik to summon another copy of it from his deck. That meant that if he didn't draw another monster, he was being delayed by yet another three turns.

"I end my turn," he said quietly. Behind him, the Blue Eyes gave a small growl of frustration.

Marik gave a creepy chuckle. "I play the ritual magic card… End of the World!" Yami's eyes narrowed. He had never heard of the ritual magic card. What could it possibly do? "Just sit back and relax, Pharaoh, as you face one of the most terrifying beasts ever created. By sacrificing Peten the Dark Clown and another Caius the Shadow Monarch (2400/1000) from my hand, I can call on the might of _Demise, King of Armageddon _(2400/2000)!"

Blue flames surrounded the area in the sky. In the center of the flames, a tall monster with a black axe with a metal handle was summoned. Its arms and shoulders were covered in white flame designs, and the monster's head had metal horns sticking out of its helmet. Its eyes glowed red as it raised its axe. It slowly floated down to the field, landing with an ominous presence.

"So what?" said Yami nervously. "It's far too weak to handle the Blue Eyes!"

"Bah! Watch its effect. I can pay two thousand life-points to destroy all other cards on the field!"

The large black armored figure picked up his axe and then leapt to the center of the field. He struck the ground hard with his axe, causing a massive explosion. The large white dragon on Yami's field let out a massive roar as it both exploded into millions of pieces.

"What kind of effect is that?" gasped Yami. "_I've never seen a monster with that much power! It's completely ridiculous_!"

"Now, he can end this! Demise, attack him directly AND END THIS DUEL!" The demonic monster shrieked and shot off in Yami's direction. He tensed himself as the axe exploded into a blaze of black fire.

Suddenly, just as the lord of Armageddon swung his weapon, a wall of furballs appeared out of nowhere. Marik's screech of anger echoed through the entire sky, but was drowned by the sound of a burst of black flames obliterating every single furball.

"Damn you, Pharaoh! How dare you use that disgusting fuzz ball against me!" Yami gave a good-natured chuckle as the remaining Kuriboh (300/200) cooed softly, even as they were destroyed.

Seething, Marik ended his turn.

(Yami: 100, Marik: 1200)

Yami chuckled as he drew, giving him three cards. "I play Magic Shard Excavation! I discard my remaining two cards to re-use my Card of Sanctity." Marik growled in anger, but nonetheless drew two more cards, while Yami drew six.

"Excellent! I play Trap Booster. This allows me to play trap cards from my hand during this turn. I know just the one I want… Call of the Haunted! I now special summon Dark Magician (2500/2100) from my graveyard." Immediately reappearing onto Yami's field was the purple robed mage. He took up his usual crossed arm stance and glared at Marik.

"Destroy Demise with Dark Magic Attack!"

Twirling his scepter, the purple robed mage let out a battle cry and pointed his staff at the demonic monster. The mage quickly released a green sphere of energy straight at the horrible creature, which just stared on at the blast. In a huge explosion, Demise was destroyed. The force of the attack dropped Marik to his knees.

(Yami: 100, Marik: 1100)

"I set a card and end my turn," chuckled Yami.

Marik drew, and gave a nervous chuckle. "Fool… This duel is over! The moment I drew this incredible card, one that was created in a place that births things feared by Hell, it was over for you. I play the magic card, Heart of Battle! We must both pay half our life-points. This cost is not optional."

Both duelists gagged as they felt precious life energy being pulled from their bodies.

(Yami: 50, Marik: 550)

"Then, we can each add one card from our deck or graveyard to our hand, and any other cards that are mentioned in its card text." Yami's eyes widened, as he instantly realized which card Marik had chosen. Right now, he really didn't know which card to pick. If he knew what Marik was planning, it didn't make much of a difference.

Despairingly, he flipped through his deck, until his eye alighted upon a certain card. Would it _actually_ be feasible? If he chose this card, and was able to pull of this strategy, the duel was effectively at an end.

"Now, the final effects of Heart of Battle says that we can play all cards from our hands during this turn. Trap cards can be activated from our hands, and normal magic cards can be played during the battle phase. Effectively, it removes any limitations on us. That is why your fate is sealed, for I play Pyramid of Light from my hand!"

A shining ball of energy appeared in the night sky. It began to glow very brightly, and spat out a beam of energy in each direction. Each beam hit one end of the terrace, and bluish-white energy appeared between the beams. The duelists were incased in the deadly pyramid.

To a bystander, it would seem like the top of the Empire State Building had been covered by a large bluish-white pyramid for decoration.

"First I add Effect Economics! Now, neither of us has to pay life-points for an effect of any sort. As usual, I will call out two of my deadliest beasts, Andro Sphinx (3000/2500) and Sphinx Teleia (2500/3000)

The first creature to appear was a monster that looked like it had the head of a lion, with a long flowing sandy blonde mane. It was bipedal, and dressed in a large blue robes. It had sharp, large claws.

The second creature that then appeared had the head of a young woman with long pink hair. Her eyes were golden colored. From her neck down though, she had a gray fur covered body of what looked like a lion that had wings. Around the bottom of her neck, there was a thick collar with a broken chain hanging from it. Her feet bore strong, powerful sharp. She screeched at Yami.

He grimaced, remembering having to face them against Anubis. No matter. He beat them once. He would beat them again.

"But how did you get them?" questioned the Pharaoh, put off slightly.

"These cards can resist the shadows. As I returned to this building after wreaking some havoc downtown, I took them from Anubis' deck. They can't attack now, but it doesn't matter. This was not my plan to begin with." Yami's eyes widened. "Not that…"

"YES!" roared Marik. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon, and my target is the Pyramid of Light!" The cyclone crashed into the walls of the massive pyramid, destroying it. The fragments disappeared before they hit the ground, and as Yami expected, the two sphinxes were vaporized as well.

He smirked. "I can pay 500 life-points, which is instantly negated, to special summon Theinen the Great Sphinx (3500/3000)!!"

There was a small shake, which caused Yami to stumble. Shadows were coalescing from all over the place. The point of accumulation was beginning to take shape. Soon, the shadows disappeared to reveal a new creature. A monster that looked like a combination of the two sphinxes that were just destroyed then appeared. Its torso up was made up of the blonde haired sphinx, but on his back was the female sphinx. Below his torso, the sphinx had the female sphinx's body. It had two large, golden wings.

Yami couldn't tear his eyes away from the terrible beast.

"I will not be defeated by your monster!" he said in a strangled voice.

"You have no choice!" boomed Marik. "I pay a non-existent five hundred life-points to boost Theinen's attack points by three thousand!" Yami gasped in shock, even though he had been expecting it, as the terrible monster began to glow, until its attack points surpassed pretty much every monster in the game (6500/3000).

"ATTACK WITH RAGE OF THE SPHINX!"

The mighty monster roared and raised its titanic fist. The fist began to glow with arcane energies, and with a roar, it charged towards the Dark Magician, who raised his staff in a hopeless defense. Yami closed his eyes as the fist descended. Just as it was about to hit, his eyes snapped open.

"Sorry Marik! When I said the duel would end soon, I really did mean it! I activate Soul Release from my hand! Now, I can remove five cards from either graveyard from play!"

"What difference does it make?!" croaked Marik as the spirits of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, Gilford the Lightning, Dark Magician Girl, and Silent Magician LV4, which he had discarded to Magic Shard Excavation.

Yami's eyes flashed. "I'm getting to that. Thanks to your Heart of Battle magic card, I can activate Return from the Different Dimension! Normally, I'd have to pay half my life-points, but that's taken care of. I have to thank you again, for that. Come back, my monsters!"

Theinen paused in shock as four forms exploded onto Yami's field.

One was the deadly and beautiful blue-white dragon, with its resplendent and shining eyes. Its massive wings cast a shadow across the field, but Yami did not seem unduly bothered (3000/2500). Then came the mighty warrior, clad in his gray armor, muscles bulging. His red cape flowed out behind him, and his eyes carried a fierce look as he drew his sword (2800/1400). Next to him, closest to the Dark Magician was the legendary mage's apprentice. She had a determined look on her normally soft, calm and pretty features. Her staff was pointed out in an offensive manner (2000/1700). Finally, a young, child like mage in white and blue robes, with a blue kind of body suit, a strange mage's hate, holding a strange looking scepter, and long silver hair materialized onto the field (1000/1000).

The five monsters seemed to glow with power. It was the power of unity.

Yami closed his eyes. "Marik… The monsters that you face represent the power of so many people that you have wronged. Even though Gilford and the Blue Eyes belonged to my grandfather, they represent Joey and Kaiba as well. The Dark Magician Girl has a place in my heart as Tea, and the Silent Magician is the most important of all."

Theinen had resumed his attack, and Yami still had a calm smile on his face. "Silent Magician is the soul monster of my hikari, the greatest duelist of them all. The five of us will not forgive your sins, even though only two are present right now. As a symbol of the craving for justice that every person on this Earth who has been harmed by you desires, we will stand up to your tyranny united. Go, UNION ATTACK!"

Even as he said these words, Yugi appeared next to his yami in spirit form, a calm smile on his face.

Marik fell to his knees in shock. The normal magic card that Heart of Battle enabled Yami to play had just sealed the villain's fate.

"Union Attack, as I'm sure you're aware, will give my Dark Magician the attack points of all other monsters on my field. Even though battle damage is reduced to zero, you know what that means, Marik."

The Dark Magician (11300/2100) received streams of power from every monster around it. Gilford the Lightning, a warrior that it knew and respected. The Dark Magician Girl, its own apprentice. Blue Eyes White Dragon, the mighty and noble wyvern that had clashed with the Dark Magician many times, but now joined forces with it. And lastly, the Silent Magician, which represented the Dark Magician's light. As the streams finished, the sorcerer snapped open his eyes, and glared at the oncoming sphinx.

"Dark Magician… End this!"

Marik watched wide eyed as the powerful mage then pointed his staff at the demonic sphinx. The mage's aura then began to flare up. The dark energy surrounding him continued to glow as power began to pour into his staff. With a cry of determination, one that was followed up by cries from the other three human monsters and a roar from the dragon, it let lose a sphere of black energy.

The blast came into contact with Theinen's fist. The sphinx expected that it would be able to punch right through the attack, but to its shock, the magic began to eat through its body. As the blast continued on, the demon's arm completely disintegrated. It was barely able to let lose a cry of agony and hatred as the attack struck its black heart.

There was no huge explosion. This was above the bond of unity shared by the five monsters on Yami's field. Theinen slowly but surely disintegrated into millions of tiny pieces. It seemed like dust had rained down upon the field. Slowly but surely, the wind blew it away, leaving Marik's field empty.

Marik's face was pale. "I CANNOT, WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU AGAIN!" he screamed in a hoarse voice. Even though bravado left his tongue, his eyes reflected pure fear. Yami took it as an unsaid sign that the villain had ended his turn.

He drew, and didn't bother to look at the card. "Dark Magician, end this!" he commanded, his voice filled with hatred.

Gone was the bond of unity. This was about revenge, about justice. The Dark Magician's eyes glowed with cold disdain and hatred as it raised its staff and let lose another sphere of black energy at the spiky-haired villain, who just had enough time to scream, "NO!" before he was hit by the attack and flung to the ground. Any sounds after that were drowned out by the roar of triumph from Yami's field.

(Yami: 50, Marik: 0)

There was unnatural silence following this. Yami closed his eyes, unable to digest the fact that it was finally over. The dark fog began to clear, leaving it slightly less overcast. It was five a.m., and the first specks of light were beginning to appear.

He gave the five monsters a weary smile. "Thank you…" It was all he could manage. But deep down, in his heart of hearts, it meant everything. He knew that without the support of his friends, he would have never made it through. They smiled back, and the Blue Eyes gave a friendly roar. They slowly disappeared.

He glanced over at Marik's prone form. Hopefully, the true Marik Ishtar would wake up soon. It was obvious that down below, his remaining friends would awaken as well.

"_What should we do now_?" said a tired Yugi from within their mind. "_I don't know…_" replied Yami. "_I know that I'm going to give you control of our body now, and then sleep for…_"

He trailed off suddenly, the light-hearted mood lost. Something was not right here. It was simple instinct. He knew that this wasn't over. Fearfully, he glanced at Marik, but saw that the body had not moved. He looked up at the sky, and the overcast clouds were exactly the same. Except for one little detail….

They had parted slightly. The winds had picked up the pace, and the clouds were blown into a circular shape. "What's going on?" said Yami aloud, to no one in particular. He noticed that from within the hole in the clouds, a figure was descending. From their distance, it was a black speck, but it began to descend faster. It carried an ominous air.

Yami paled. Was this some after-effect of the Tournament of Shadows?

The figure was descending even faster now. Yami could make out details. It was dressed in obsidian black armor, with a flowing cape. Its head was covered with a similar helmet. The sheer hulking build was enough to scare off a normal man. As if standing six foot nine and probably weighing in excess of two hundred and fifty pounds wasn't enough, the man, if it indeed was so, gave off an incredible aura of darkness. Yami couldn't quite make out the exact nature, but it was certainly a destructive one.

Soon, Yami found himself at eye level with the figure. He stood at the edge of the terrace, and for some reason felt like a mere speck of insignificance in the face of this giant. "Who… Who are you?"

The figure raised a hand covered with a gauntlet. Slowly, it wrapped every digit except its index finger into a spiny fist, which it used to push the metal grille of the helmet up.

The only feature revealed by this action were the figure's eyes. Yami could only stare into them, transfixed by the cold, hard, steel pebble-like slits in the person's face. Gray eyes locked with violet ones, and a deep, resonating voice was heard. It was a voice unlike anything Yami had ever heard. It carried the bitterness of the sadistic Marik, the malevolence of the cold Dartz, and the hatred of the raging Anubis.

"_I am Apocalypse. And you set me free_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**That's it. The end of YuGiOh! Advent of Power. The final duel lasted eight turns. I don't know how many of the people who read it enjoyed it as much as some of the reviewers, but I want to thank you for reading it in any case. There are a large number of people who have contributed to this story, and I'll begin now.**

**First of is Wolf General himself. He reviewed only once, and I don't know how much he followed it, but just reading his own stuff has helped me become the author I am today. He let me borrow original cards without a second thought, and even let me use his cast as characters in the sequel. Reading his masterpiece duels has inspired some of the more decent stuff in this fic. Anyone who likes YGO should read his fics.**

**Then comes Seeker of the Soul. He helped me in pretty much the same way, giving very helpful constructive criticism, and allowing me to use as original cards. His works have been a tremendous inspiration. Props to you for being one of the best authors on .**

**Third is BEWK-Blue Eyes White Knight. He let me use the character of Kevin Hunter, and went ahead to give me Kyle Gardner. He's given me many ideas for the sequel, and although he has only one discontinued fic, the story wouldn't have been where it was without him.**

**Illidan the Half Demon cannot be forgotten. He barely read this fic, but gave me the opportunity to co-author the story Minutes to Midnight with him, allowing me to take breaks from this once in a while. He's helped me with card rulings and muses… Man, this guy's fics are **_**the**_** fics to read.**

**DuelistBlake1852 has been a great help as well. He joined the ranks of my reviewers just a few months ago, but his constructive criticism and praise, as well as conversations about YGO on AIM have been extremely helpful. He's been writing on for just a little more time than myself, but his work is one of the best I've ever read. Props to you, Blake.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0 has been a massive help from the beginning. His huge and enthusiastic reviews have helped me think of ideas for duels, and he has also made a large contribution to my fic with Illidan. He's writing a duel fic, which I must say is AWESOME. Thanks for everything, and I hope you'll join me for Nightrise.**

**Well, that's all I can think of from the top of my head. There are, of course, others, who cannot be forgotten, such as Mysticlife, HimmeAmelie, Mystralwind, Aelsthla-Mental, and a number of others. A big thank you to all of you for reading and reviewing my stuff.**

**For those who are interested, here are the story stats**

**Total Word count: 340,000 words.**

**Chapters: 47**

**Average Chapter length: 7203 words.**

**Reviews: 153**

**Hits: 9717**

**Favorites: 22**

**Alerts: 14**

**It's done much better then I ever expected, and of course, I have you guys to thank for that. As a final gift if appreciation, here's a sneak peak to the sequel.**

**YuGiOh! Nightrise**

**Despite the fact that the deadly trio of Marik, Dartz and Anubis has been defeated, Yami and his friends must face a threat on an unimaginable scale. Victory is nearly impossible, failure results in the destruction of every single dimension. An ancient and deadly power has arisen after eons, with a vendetta against the governing body of all existence, the Infinity Council. Caught up in a battle between the ultimate forces of good and evil, the group must not only join forces with a group known as the Demon Lords, but must deal with the transformation of an old friend into a sadistic serial killer. At the same time, Yami is forced to uncover a terrible, ancient secret that threatens to plunge all that he holds dear into chaos. Above all this, will they survive the might of Apocalypse?**

**Well, that's that. Thanks again to everyone, and I hope you see me in the sequel. I'm out of town till the 25****th****, but I may start posting before I leave on the 5****th****. I don't know yet. Anyway, cya all, and have a great summer!**


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